Columnist Dean Juipe: Well-to-do firm a threat to Las Vegas

Dean Juipe

Friday, Nov. 27, 1998 | 10:38 a.m.

For the past 20 years, Las Vegas has prided itself on its ability to land the big fights. More often than not, it took a casino to bankroll the really intriguing, high-stakes bouts.

But that could be changing.

Monday in New York City, Evander Holyfield and Lennox Lewis will be flanked by their associates in announcing a March 13 heavyweight unification fight at Madison Square Garden.

It's a fight Las Vegas wanted and tried to acquire.

But it's one that's going to New York.

There is one small reason why, and one large reason why.

New York was to have been the site for a fight last summer that was of no interest to Las Vegas: Holyfield vs. fringe contender Henry Akinwande. But when Akinwande tested positive for hepatitis and the fight was cancelled, it left promoter Don King in the position of owing Madison Square Garden a favor or at least a consideration.

MSG called in its marker with the Holyfield vs. Lewis fight, although King and co-promoter Panos Eliades were persuaded far more by the fact an outfit called Cablevision Systems Corp. has decided to spend freely on professional sports. Cablevision Systems owns MSG and is the company that has been trying to pry the New York Yankees away from longtime owner George Steinbrenner.

Cablevision Systems has been tempting Steinbrenner the last couple of weeks with offers approaching $600 million for the Yankees. So it has money and wants to spend it -- or invest it -- in sports.

And while it had the inside track to land the Holyfield vs. Lewis fight, it also went after it aggressively and even made a Vegas-like deal that can best be termed a "loss leader." Holyfield, the World Boxing Association and International Boxing Federation champion, will be paid $20 million and Lewis, the World Boxing Council champ, will receive $8 million according to preliminary reports.

MSG cannot make that money back at the gate.

If the fight were held in Las Vegas, the sponsoring casino wouldn't make that money back at the gate either (although it could charge higher ticket prices than MSG will be able to demand in New York). But in Vegas, the casinos will take the loss to generate gambling-related business.

At MSG, they're taking the loss just for the prestige of holding an attractive fight.

It's not the first time this has happened of course, as Atlantic City or even foreign interests occasionally land a semi-significant bout. But far more often than not, the mega-fights have found their way to Las Vegas.

This is a mega-fight that got away despite Las Vegas bidding on it, and it's a major concern to those involved with boxing in the state. They don't know whether it's a fluke or the beginning of the end.

In truth, Cablevision Systems has such deep pockets that it could dominate a business once ruled by Las Vegas casino entrepreneurs. It already controls the New York Knicks and New York Rangers and is the firm that paid the Yankees $486 million in 1988 for 12 years of exclusive television rights.

Should it choose, this is a company that could put a serious dent in Las Vegas' reputation as the fight capital of the world.