LV casinos divided on NBA betting ban

David Strow

Wednesday, Sept. 29, 1999 | 11:56 a.m.

The National Basketball Association has yet to arrive in Las Vegas, but professional basketball is already a big business in town.

Of the $2.5 billion wagered in Nevada sports books annually, an estimated 15 percent -- $375 million -- is bet on NBA contests. That makes basketball the third hottest bet in sports books, trailing horse racing and football.

Would Clark County sports books be willing to give that up to have an NBA franchise in Las Vegas?

"It is a significant part of our handle, and it does mean something to this state," said Vic Salerno, president and chief executive of American Wagering Inc., operator of 48 Leroy's Horse and Sports books in Nevada. "If the NBA came here ... it would be a fight. A lot of properties would fight against that happening.

"It's absolutely and totally ridiculous."

Part of Salerno's hesitation comes from the city's experience with the Utah Jazz 10 years ago. The Jazz indicated it wanted to play 11 games in Las Vegas, but the NBA pushed for a betting ban. Eventually, sports books agreed to remove the Jazz games in Las Vegas from the board.

The Jazz ended up playing only three games in Las Vegas.

"We went through hell to get the NBA here, and then they ended up skipping town on us," Salerno said.

But Alan Feldman, spokesman for Mirage Resorts Inc., said the financial cost of giving up NBA wagering might well be made up by the financial impact an NBA team would have.

"In terms of overall revenues, (sports wagering) is fairly small," Feldman said. "It's a service you provide your guests to round out the casino experience."

Despite the large handle, Feldman pointed out that only about 5 percent of handle actually goes to the bottom line as revenues. That translates to a little under $19 million in win annually from NBA games, out of total win of more than $8 billion.

Clark County's 28 sports books offering basketball wagers reported a win of $21.56 million from all basketball wagers in the 12 months ending July 31, a 4.76 percent win.

"When you get into some of these numbers, they're not as big as some folks might think," Feldman said. "We would need to do further research, and find out if the trade-off is worthwhile. This requires further thought and discussion."

Mirage Chairman Steve Wynn has been one of the leading proponents of the Las Vegas effort to recruit professional sports. In July, he presented a poll to city leaders that showed 93 percent of the city's residents would support the construction of a sports arena, provided tax dollars were not used.

Wynn has been often mentioned as a potential owner for a pro team, but in July, Wynn said he and Mirage were "not on fire go to buy a team," but added that "we are interested ... in participating in any good idea that strengthens and broadens Las Vegas' appeal as a world-class destination resort."

Nearby on the Strip, Caesars Palace operates one of the area's most prominent sports books. The company has no comment at this time on the proposal, but spokesman Phil Cooper noted that Caesars has had experience with the NBA ban.

That was when Caesars was owned by ITT Corp., which owned a large chunk of the New York Knicks. At the NBA's behest, Caesars removed NBA bets from its board during the 1997-98 season. NBA bets only recently returned to Caesars after the casino was sold, and Cooper said Caesars got a good share of negative feedback from bettors hoping to wager on the NBA.

"It is a substantial move for a casino to make," Cooper said. "It's a sport that goes seven months a year, so from a viewership angle, it's huge.

"But it's much too soon to say how something like this would affect the industry."

But Salerno is doubtful that an NBA betting ban would have the beneficial effect the league hopes it would.

"We're the only legal state," Salerno said. "What about all the illegal wagering? That's not going to stop. Here would be the good guys doing something that only benefits the bad guys.

"You think people would stop betting the NBA here? No way."