‘Xtreme’ football likely headed for LV

Steve Addy

Wednesday, June 28, 2000 | 9:59 a.m.

Except as a profit-maker for the sports books, pro football has not been embraced by Las Vegas. Local franchises in the Canadian and Arena leagues had brief stays in the '90s, but disappeared quickly, bemoaned by few.

But the new XFL -- as in Xtreme -- is betting that Las Vegas will embrace its WWF-style league.

The city is on the "short list" for one of eight franchises in the outdoor league, which will debut in February, vowing to hook fans with a radical combination of football and pro wrestling bombast.

The XFL, a joint venture of WWF Entertainment and NBC, is in the late stages of negotiations to field a team at Sam Boyd Stadium, XFL and stadium officials said Tuesday. A deal could come within two weeks, according to Rich Rose, XFL senior consultant for special projects.

"No final decision has been made, but Las Vegas is a strong possibility among the cities we're still considering," Rose said from the XFL office in Stamford, Conn. "We want to be in major markets in major stadiums, and Las Vegas and Sam Boyd Stadium meet those criteria."

Franchises have been announced in Chicago and Memphis, and New York and Los Angeles are being finalized. Las Vegas, San Francisco, Orlando and Birmingham, Ala., are reportedly favored for the remaining four teams, though Rose wouldn't confirm or deny that.

"Las Vegas is a desirable market for a lot of reasons," said Rose, a Las Vegan who headed the Caesars Palace sports division from 1988-98. "Not only is it a growing city, a growing market, but over time it has become one of the entertainment media capitals of the country."

Pat Christenson, Sam Boyd Stadium director, termed negotiations with the XFL as "very fruitful," and said he expects a resolution soon. The stadium would host five games in the regular season, all on Saturdays and Sundays, then up to two more in the playoffs.

"We presented the XFL with a deal we believe is acceptable to them," Christenson said. "With the completion of the stadium improvements from last year and other things we'll have in place, we will have as functional a venue as there is on the West Coast."

Whether Las Vegans would support the franchise is another matter, mainly because the city has a poor track record regarding local pro teams, especially so-called "minor league" clubs.

A Canadian Football League expansion team played at Sam Boyd Stadium in 1994, but the Posse barely lasted to the end of the season before going out of business. An Arena Football team, the Sting, spent two seasons here before moving to Anaheim in 1996.

But the XFL, headed by WWF chairman Vince McMahon, plans to be more than another garden-variety sports league.

Though the XFL will be filled with no-name players making an average of $45,000 in base salary, it feels its WWF-style presentation and promotion will mitigate a lack of name recognition. Having games on NBC on Saturday nights should help plenty. UPN will show Sunday games, and a cable deal for Saturdays is being finalized.

At least initially, expect a lot of involvement by WWF personalities.

"I challenge you to come up with an organization that builds stars better than the WWF," Rose said. "The WWF is 100 percent entertainment. The XFL will be 100 percent competitive sport, but it will be presented in an exciting way with an edge."

The eight XFL teams will be owned by the league. The players will be signed by the league, then allocated to the teams through a draft. The general managers and coaches will also be signed by the league, but they will be in charge of scouting, drafting and hiring staff. There will be 38 players per team.

The clubs will play a 10-game regular season and the winning team in each game will split about $100,000. Four teams will qualify for the playoffs, fighting for a $1 million prize pool in the April 21 championship game.