Wednesday, July 7, 1999 | 10:16 a.m.
Dean Juipe's column appears Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday. His boxing notebook appears Thursday. Reach him at [email protected] or 259-4084.
Dreamers built Las Vegas and dreamers will always find their way here.
The scent of money is stronger where it is exchanged in such bulk quantities, and that's an undeniable lure. Ready-to-roll outsiders look at the city with envy and even the city's residents occasionally get caught up in the hoopla of a hot idea.
Such is the case with entrepreneur Steve Wynn suggesting Las Vegas is ready, or could be ready with a little help from the city fathers, for a franchise in the National Basketball Association. Wynn says he'll gladly purchase an existing team or an expansion franchise, if only the city will build him an arena.
Everyone who lives here knows Wynn cannot be taken lightly. He is rarely, if ever, denied his wishes.
He has the money and the influence to back up his desires.
And now he has joined the many who feel Las Vegas is fast approaching the population minimum it takes to support a professional team in either the NBA or, to a less desirable extent, the National Hockey League.
Wynn used Oscar Goodman's coronation as the city's new mayor to send up his trial balloon. Goodman may not zealously chase after a pro sports team for Las Vegas but he's at least agreeable to the notion of adding one should it conveniently come along.
While the mayor talked during his campaign about attracting a National Football League franchise, he isn't about to dismiss a chance to corral an NBA team if it's Wynn doing the leg work.
But the downfall in this most recent proposal, if it can be called a proposal, is Goodman's clearly-stated position that the city will not pay for an expensive facility to house a professional team. Initial if informal surveys find that residents don't want to be taxed for it either.
What Goodman needs is what his predecessor, Jan Jones, thought she had in Dallas businessman Paul Tanner. He felled the mayor with plans for an elaborate, state-of-the-art domed stadium to be constructed downtown, and he said an NFL franchise would soon follow.
Obviously, he didn't come through. But he talked a good game and for quite some time he let on that he had the money lined up to pull it off.
Well, Wynn does have the kind of money it takes to single-handedly build an arena, buy a team and support its athletes' always outrageous salary demands. Wynn, should he choose, could take it upon himself -- or put together a wealthy consortium -- to construct the building and fund the entire process.
But he really doesn't want to take that serious plunge, and he probably never will.
The end result: While his public appeal for support has generated a good deal of discussion in Las Vegas, Wynn isn't going to do this himself and the city really is no further ahead than it was a day, a month or a year before he stepped forward. He did, however, succeed in bringing the matter of Las Vegas and pro sports to a broader discussion than it had been receiving.
And his mere presence in the equation added some legitimacy to the entire process.
Nonetheless, don't get excited about the NBA or NHL coming here just yet. It's still quite a ways away.
And besides, neither of those leagues would be a guaranteed success here, where only the NFL is a sure thing.
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