Mayor: Betting won’t hamper courting of NBA

Erin Neff

Friday, Dec. 17, 1999 | 11:29 a.m.

When talk first surfaced about a possible professional sports team in Las Vegas, the impact on sports betting statewide wasn't really an issue.

Local power brokers wondered instead how to get a franchise and how any new arena might compete with existing facilities such as the Thomas & Mack Center at UNLV.

But betting quickly leapt to the forefront when NBA Commissioner David Stern told a local delegation that his league's historic anti-gambling stance would make Las Vegas a long shot to win a franchise.

Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman has worried publicly how to overcome such a seemingly steep obstacle in a city where casino wishes frequently rule policy.

"If we can't get that (betting) resolved, there can't be a team," Goodman said as recently as Nov. 11.

But Thursday he sank a turnaround jump shot on the issue.

"We took (betting) off the table as an issue," Goodman said Thursday at his weekly press conference in reference to a meeting this week with representatives of the Nevada Resorts Association.

"That's really a nonissue," he added.

Goodman said that once a team decides to relocate to Las Vegas, betting won't be an issue. He hinted that the team's owner would be able to sway the NBA out of its anti-gambling position.

"Like I said before, it's like the selling of a house," Goodman said.

As an example, he cites an owner trying to sell a home at $200,000, but willing to settle for a real offer less than the asking price.

The focus of an ad hoc committee studying the feasibility of a downtown sports arena and performing arts center should be on competitive concerns, he added.

In fact one of that committee's sub-groups is conducting a market analysis to determine concerns other arenas around town have. Those committee members are former Las Vegas Mayor Jan Laverty Jones; Kirk Hendrix of Las Vegas Events; Dan Van Epp of the Howard Hughes Corp.; Bob Halloran of Mirage Resorts and Rossi Ralenkotter of the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority.

Nationally known pollster Frank Luntz has told the committee that in order for a new arena to be successful, it must have both pro hockey and basketball to fill as many event nights as possible.

Having both teams would allow scheduling the arena for 80 home games, with the facility available for other events on nongame nights.

That could spell problems for the MGM Grand Garden, the Thomas & Mack Center and Mandalay Bay's Events Center when all four begin a bidding war for big concerts, ice shows, boxing matches and potentially the National Finals Rodeo, which brings overflow crowds to the Thomas & Mack every December.

If the arena sought conventions due to its proposed site adjacent to 9,000 downtown hotel rooms, other convention centers would likely grumble.

Even if betting issues are resolved, the competition for arena events could be tougher than the games played within.

"Those are very serious issues as far as they're concerned," Goodman said, referring to members of the NRA with whom he met.

Ever since talk of an arena began in July, those supporting such a project here have been flooded with calls from people interested in owning a professional team and even from at least one NBA owner looking to move his team.