You have to give Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman an "A" for persistence. Neither the bad economy, nor the bad publicity from the All-Star Game in 2007 -- or even the stepped-up anti-gambling push after the snake-like Tim Donaghy raised his head -- has deterred Goodman from continuing his push for an NBA franchise.He does make a lot of sense. Las Vegas really would be NBA heaven.
Goodman at his weekly press conference Thursday brought up the issue again of moving forward with plans for a new downtown arena in hopes of luring an NBA franchise to his city.
Considering Las Vegas has successfully hosted NBA exhibition games for many years, and it has been hosting the NBA-sanctioned Summer League, Vegas really would be a great place for the league to put a franchise.
"I believe as soon as we have an arena -- this is my belief, I have nothing that is signed in blood, there's no contract -- but I believe we'll have a team,'' Goodman told reporters at his press conference Thursday.
Goodman wants his Las Vegas city council next week to give exclusive contract for the development of a downtown arena project to the Cordish Company, a Baltimore-based real estate developer.
The NBA has long been intrigued by the prospect of adding Las Vegas to its club, but there currently are no plans for expansion beyond the 30 teams it already has and the league keeps discouraging the movement of existing franchises.
Kansas City has been trying for years to get into the NBA mix and it already has a new arena waiting for a tenant. Seattle, which just lost its team to Oklahoma City, has made noise about wanting another team, and possibly building a new arena. Yet Las Vegas -- with a new arena -- would blow everyone else out of the water.
Teams all over the league are looking for ways to cuts costs now. Even commissioner David Stern has said he expects a significant drop in league revenues this season.Yet Vegas wants to move forward in a bad economy, which really accentuates its desire for a team. Current teams in Charlotte and Memphis are struggling badly to sell tickets, and they likely would welcome a pitch from an arena-ready Las Vegas.
The 2007 All-Star Weekend in Vegas was filled with problems when fans went overboard in their enthusiasm, and the city police weren't ready to handle it. There were fights, shootings and other lawlessness from fans that flooded the city and caught everyone off guard. Yet those were easily correctable problems.
Goodman thinks the NBA would thrive in Las Vegas.
And he's ready to prove it with a new arena.
Comments (Page 1 of 1)
A Las Vegas franchise should be an easy sell for Commissioner Stern. Stern and his refs will be able to place their bets much quicker now. Vegas will also be a great place for NBA players to stay out of trouble while they hit the nightspots and maybe even place a bet themselves. Who better than a player with a hangover or worse to make a bet against his team knowing that his performance will be substandard.
Matt, you are an idiot. It's idiots like you who don't know how tough officiating basketball games is and think that refs are corrupt. If what Donaghy said was true don't you think that someone would've already talked about it (i.e. disgruntled former referees? former employers?). If you actually carefully read what Donaghy said you'd notice that he contradicts himself a lot. Conspiracy theorists really get on my nerves.
And Povtak, why are you saying there were shootings from fans? Are you kidding me? The only shooting was caused by Pacman Jones, a football player. The real troublemakers were Pacman Jones and troublemakers from the Las Vegas areas. Not fans. Get your facts straight next time.
Germanstore, you have proven that you are indeed the idiot. You use Donaghy as an example to "prove" your point. How stupid are you? Donaghy was involved in gambling connections as he admitted after being confronted. Yet you act as though refs involved in gambling would never happen. Obviously you are deeply involved with a ref. Are you also in bed with Stern?
Montreal, Canada, deserves and Nba franchise, so may at least one of the counties in the New York area, RiverSide, Cal, 13, grew 25.7% in the `90s, Seattle, 15, grew 18.9% in the `90s, San Diego, 17, grew 12.6% in the `90s, Missouri (Kansas) City, 26, grew 12.2% in the `90s, San Jose, 29, grew 13.1% in the `90s, Columbus, 31, grew 14.8% in the `90s, so if Las Vegas is Gamers` Heaven, at 36, even though it grew 85.5% in the `90s, Heaven can wait!
Vegas is a great sports venue as Tim says. However, it isn't as simple as it sounds. One of the problems lies between the NBA and the casinos. Goodman was trying to get the casinos to agree to drop all sports betting on the home games when the proposed team plays in Vegas. Casinos are dead-set against it because they are worried that a gray market will emerge anyway to cover those home games in Vegas thus creating an unregulated market and thereby creating headaches for the gambling commission. NBA is adamantly against any sports betting in Vegas on the home team when they play there. The proposed arena will be located in North LV (Old town) near Binions and Golden Nugget. If this can be resolved, it'll boost the economy in Vegas no doubt but unaffordable for most residents here.
las vegas dont need a nba team nashville does
Granted, Memphis and Nashville aren't the same, but Memphis already has an NBA team to represent the entire state of Tennessee (the Grizzlies.)
Markets below the top 30, and poised therefore to possibly lose Nba teams in this depressed economy, include Salt Lake City, 50, but grew at 26.1%, Oklahoma City, 47, grew at 12.8%, but they just got there, Memphis 41, grew 12.9%, and is smaller and growing more slowly than NashVille, 39, which grew at 25.1%, New Orleans 38, which grew at 4.1%, but lose 300,000 folks who moved out after Hurricaine Katrina, pushing them down near 49, Charlotte, 37, which grew at 29.8%, Milwaukee, 35, which grew at 4.8%, and IndianaPolis, 34, which grew at 17.8%. So quite a few teams are vulnerable in the economic depression. Especially the small market teams which grew by less than double figures.
LAS VEGAS< HAWAII
Heck if vegas had a team when mj and barkley were playing,.....theyd be M.I.A. out there all the time...LoL
The refs are NOT accountable! and they should be. Las Vegas is going down, why would you put a team there?
Las Vegas is "going down?" In what world? Sure, they have experienced tough times in this economy, but so what? Putting a major sports team there is irrelevant.... As long as people like gambling, sex, and booze, this city is going nowhere!
Vegas no way, Branson
good name for the team las vegas gambeler's
Hawaii and Branson can be good vacation resorts, But as Nba sites go, Honolulu was 52 in the nation, with only a 4.8% growth rate in the `90s, and Branson, while the Grande Ole Opry should probably move there and build a new version of the long defunct Opry Land theme park there, had only over 3,000 folks! NashVille has an arena which supports an ice hockey team, but with only 30 teams in the association, one of them in Canada, it is hard to justify considering any but the fastest growing sites out of the top 30 US sites. And the commissioner is against Las Vegas for the same reason the media is in favor of it, its self promoted reputation as a Sin City, where what would happen in Las Vegas to a pro sports team, in any league, would be heavily publicized thruout north America and western Europe. If you want what happens in Vegas to stay in Vegas, you have to sneak in and out, and a pro sports team can`t do that. But Vegas is not going down financially, just bragging that it is going down morally, for fun and profit.
yes baby love vegas and basketball
Vegas definitely a good venue for a sports team as Tim recounts. Bemeath the hoopla, lies an unresolved problem between the NBA and casinos : no bets taken on the Vegas team when playing at home. Casinos and gambling commission worry that a gray market will emerge in Nevada if they can't. Goodman trying to resolve this issue. This concern applies to all professional sports teams relocating to Vegas.
I can see the Timberwolves moving out of Minnesota within the next couple of years. This has been a sorry franchise ever since Garnett came and went. They could never build a team around KG because they spent so much money on him; they had a great coach in Flip Saunders who could get them to the playoffs but not very deep and then there is the McHale debacle. Blow this franchise up and send it to whoever wants it.
Las Vegas would be a great place to keep all these black guys from cheating on their wive's and spreading AIDS. I love the idea, I even got a name for their team.....Las Vegas Losers.
How about a run down on the half a dozen vacant markets that were growing at double figures and were larger than Las Vegas, to update whether they are still growing at double figures, still larger, have adequate NBA style arenas, etc.?