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Sunday, May 15, 2011 | 12:55 p.m.
Major League Soccer Commissioner Don Garber last week made calls to key Nevada lawmakers about an expansion team for Las Vegas, telling them he is supportive of the concept that needs approval from the Legislature for a taxing district near Mandalay Bay to fund a proposed arena/stadium/ballpark complex.
The move comes on the heels of Texas developer Chris Milam's purchase of the minor league 51s baseball team and his stated intentions to bring major league soccer and an NBA team to Las Vegas. The developments were first reported here
Said Speaker John Oceguera of Garber's call: "He called, made no promises, but said they were interested and liked the project." Garber also called others, including state Senate Majority Leader Steven Horsford.
Garber talked as recently as two months ago about an expansion team, mentioning Las Vegas as a possible venue
Milam, I'm told, also has hired attorney Key Reid, son of U.S Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid. This isn't just a move to perhaps bring in the lobbying clout of Democrat Numero Uno in the state. Key Reid is a former college soccer player and played on University of Virginia national championship squads in the '90s. Reid, who also is counsel for the Greenspun Corp. (which owns this newspaper), played in college for Bruce Arena, who now coaches the MLS Los Angeles Galaxy, and has other relationships with league folks. Small world.
Still a long way to go: The bill has to pass -- and that is far from certain, although Garber's calls may help. And then MLS has to agree to site a franchise here. And Milam, who has put down money to buy the 51s, still has to prove he's for real to some people.
But the possibility of another domino falling has to excite anyone who wants pro sports here.
I say give the tax district if it only entails the land that the facilities are built on and no surrounding businesses. It will bring jobs which brings more disposable income which brings more revenue in other taxes.
Milam has access to plenty of investor's money. I say that not one penny of taxpayer money be used to build or operate this stadium. A separate taxing authority to help this promotor is wrong. It is not the Anerican way and that bozo Reid should know this.
NO PUBLIC MONEY FOR A PRIVATE VENTURE...
NONE..... THEY WANT IT THEY CAN PAY FOR IT !
Smart moves by these guys.
Baseball, Soccer--I wonder when the basketball franchise will turn up?
This is a great idea. MLS is having a rapidly growing fanbase (Don't believe me? Look at the supports for the Sounders, Timbers, Union, Galaxy, Red Bulls). As a big fan of soccer, I would definitely want an MLS team here.
Tax Increment Financing (TIF) is a very common practice throughout the United States. The idea here is to give back the taxes earned at the site to help pay for it. In other words, this would have no net effect on tax collections until the TIF expires (usually 20 years). The taxpayers would actually get a return on their "investment" (essentially nothing) when people spend additional dollars around the stadium.
In short, the investors pay for it, collect the new taxes earned on property for a specified number of years to help pay for it. The taxpayers get a new set of stadia, no negative effect on the current budget, and a possible increase in tax collections due to new economic activity. This shouldn't create any controversy.
If Miliam can pull it off, Las Vegans owe him a great deal of thanks. I truly believe that something of this scale could literally save this community by offering something for both locals and tourists. A real minor league stadium, MLS, and whatever else he can get here would all be community assets.
I would think that any arena/stadium project that doesn't focus on basketball and hockey and also provide for rodeos is going to fail. Those are the sports activities that would draw Las Vegas fans and also fans from SoCal.
@Boftx: You don't think MLS would catch on here? The Galaxy are pretty popular in neighboring Los Angeles, and whenever I go to the Crown and Anchor to catch a match there always seems to be throngs of fans. It seems like interest in the sport really increased following the 2010 World Cup. I think that, mostly due to the lack of a major league professional team in Las Vegas, that fans would eat up an MLS team if one were to come to town. Again, look at the fan bases for some of the teams that I listed.
MLS execs have been begging cities all over the US for funds to build a stadium for a long time now. No city is going to fund a stadium for a failsport.
Good luck with this venture! Soccer is growing and SoCal has a potential base of fans for this as well as those sports that boftx has pointed out.
The hardest bit is getting maximum use from the stadia but with artifial turf theere is potential for community use, even in winter.
Soccer? Call the TEAPARTY! This is un AMerican. Only the Europeons and people from South of the Border like that game for people who are into feet. Next thing you know women will stop shaving their legs and men will be carrying shoulder bags.
We need a crotch scratching, tobacco spiting stand around sport like baseball.
"We need a crotch scratching, tobacco spiting stand around sport like baseball."
1st time Mr ed said anything that makes sense and Thank the lord he didn't put in a plug for polo!
Could he have figured out that BB has 81 home games and sells 2 to 3 plus million tickets per yr. compared to x for kick ball and 5 to 6 hundred thousand for pro football?
mred - You may have noticed that this town is filled with folks from "South of the Border," as you put it.
Still not sure why people have a huge hang up about the whole "tax district" issue. As Jon stated, it is pretty common. The land is creating ZERO tax dollars for the state now. The construction jobs that this project will create alone are worth supporting this proposal.
What can you say about a state that will tolerate no new taxes except to support private businesses?
The Sun should take a look at other tax increment funding schemes. In northern Nevada, the tax increment funded baseball/entertainment district is bankrupting the city. Not only has it not generated the expected revenue, the mounting debt liability has been shifted to the general fund.
All the rosy promises made about special tax districts having no negative fiscal effect are hogwash. The debt incurred by building publicly funded stadiums generally outlasts the facility, the construction benefit is temporary, and displacement of existing businesses is a real concern. According to several easy-to-find studies on tax increment funding, there is no general benefit associated with publicly-funded stadiums. In fact, per capita income actually decreases in counties employing tax-increment funding for major projects.
Ah HA! SOCCER Part of the "re-colonization" conspiracy to take over AMERICA.
People are worried about taxpayers getting stuck (i.e. monorail) with deals they can't understand. Although other destinations are not afraid of this kind of financing.
With some sense. I mean, the devil is often in the details. Sometimes what happens is that a TIF is constructed that the stadium can't realistically hope to pay, and the public entity commits itself to paying the shortfall. Then you have an end-run tax.
But then it's just as easy to scare voters with 'public financing' mechanisms like TIF and get them to believe it's a tax as it is to get something by them, maybe even easier.
Your ridiculous comment should have been removed, Vegas... just like the ridiculous comment above this one wil probably be removed. Nevermind the fact that idiots like you and mred turn this into a debate about the "American-ness" or manliness of soccer, which also happens to be the most widespread and popular sport IN THE WORLD. I'm sure The Sun won't be too hurt if their comment removal policy leads to the loss of a moron like you from its discussion forums.
Guess people take their soccer so seriously they can't detect sarcasm.
or racism?
So.....UEFA Champions League final party on the 28th, anyone?