Mayor: LV top choice of NBA owner

Diana Sahagun and David Strow

Friday, March 2, 2001 | 11:31 a.m.

If the gaming industry is willing to play ball, Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman says the NBA's Vancouver Grizzlies could be on their way here.

But it's going to be a tough sell, as Nevada's top gaming regulator said Thursday he's not prepared to support Goodman's proposed betting ban compromise with the NBA.

Following recent meetings with Grizzlies owner Michael Heisley, Goodman said Thursday that Las Vegas' chances at landing the Grizzlies are far better than many critics think.

"Our discussions would indicate that Las Vegas is the No. 1 choice for the Grizzlies," Goodman said. "We're seriously discussing Las Vegas being the home for the Grizzlies. These are not like discussions that have taken place in the past, with Las Vegas possibly being used as a chip."

Heisely, a Chicago businessman who paid $160 million to buy the Grizzlies in 1999, has also met with officials from St. Louis, New York, Nashville, Tenn., and Louisville, Ky.

Goodman would not elaborate on their conversations, but said the two discussed the need for a downtown arena to house the team if it were to relocate in Las Vegas.

The city earlier this year secured a long-sought 61-acre parcel downtown that could be home to an arena, performing arts center, or other projects designed to draw people to the downtown area.

Monday is the deadline for developers to submit proposals to the city for projects for the 61 acres, but Goodman said he would extend the deadline for Heisley if an arena were brought into the picture.

"A downtown arena will be the least of our problems," Goodman said.

Goodman faces one huge hurdle in landing the Grizzlies, however -- the NBA's repeated insistence that it will not allow a team to play in Las Vegas so long as the city's sports books take bets on NBA teams.

But Goodman believes a compromise could be possible. He proposed an NBA version of the "UNLV rule" -- a rule that would permit bets on all NBA teams except a Las Vegas team. Just weeks ago Nevada repealed a long-standing ban against betting on Nevada college teams.

"I think if we can get the old UNLV rule that we are on the way to getting a basketball team," he said.

That would be a stark departure from the NBA's hard-line anti-gambling stance of the past. The league forced the Canadian provinces of British Columbia and Ontario to ban such bets before it agreed to award each a franchise.

Goodman said that the next 30 days are critical and that he will meet with representatives from the Nevada Gaming Commission, Thomas & Mack Center and others to try to ease their stance. He hopes to have a betting proposal in hand when he meets with the commission this month.

There are two ways such a ban could be implemented -- one, by a vote of the five-member gaming commission; or two, through a bill passed by the state Legislature.

But Brian Sandoval, chairman of the Nevada Gaming Commission, says he's not prepared to support it.

"I wouldn't be inclined to allow an exception for (a Las Vegas team)," Sandoval said. "I would like the opportunity to sit down with representatives of the city and the NBA to explain to them that a ban or compromise might have the opposite effect that they intend. It would create a market (for illegal betting) where one does not exist."

This argument was used by Sandoval in January, as he pushed the repeal of the UNLV rule. This move angered the NCAA, which is backing a bill in Congress that would ban college betting altogether. That bill is expected to be introduced later this month.

Implementing a new "UNLV rule" could be politically damaging, Sandoval said.

"At a minimum, it would be contradictory," Sandoval said. "We lifted the ban because we wanted to protect our athletes from illegal betting."

If such a ban were implemented, it also would force the sports books to stop taking futures bets on the NBA championship.

Harrah's Entertainment Inc. also indicated it wouldn't support Goodman's proposal, calling it "a dangerous precedent."

"I don't see any sense in taking a step backward when the gaming industry is facing attacks from zealots, as if there was something wrong with wagering on a professional sporting event," said Harrah's spokesman Gary Thompson. "To encourage illegal bookmaking seems to me to be a short-sighted solution to what is really not a major problem. We're trying to avoid having the gaming industry attacked piece by piece by people who have other agendas."

Casino observer Anthony Curtis, publisher of the Las Vegas Advisor newsletter, said gaming could face a backlash from Las Vegans if it digs in its heels on the betting issue.

"I'd be stunned if that was all that was required of the books and they didn't say, 'Sure,' " Curtis said. "They'd sound greedy. That should remove any road blocks if that (a ban on betting on a Las Vegas team) is all they're asking for."

Curtis disagreed that such a move could be viewed as hypocritical.

"It's a concession that had to be made in a bargain ... that's a different thing," Curtis said.

Vic Salerno is chief executive of American Wagering Inc., the owner of the Leroy's sports book chain. Salerno said he's willing to go along with Goodman, although he doesn't see much sense in the proposal.

"I don't see why there's any reason for not accepting them (bets on a local team)," Salerno said. "We wouldn't have any problems. But if that's what they want, I wouldn't want to be the one standing in the way of having a team."

Gaming companies might not stand in the way, but it will be tough to get them to become full-fledged boosters of Goodman's proposal, said Shannon Bybee, executive director of UNLV's International Gaming Institute.

"I'm not sure they see much benefit (to professional sports)," Bybee said. "There's certainly a benefit for Oscar if he can get it. (But) someone needs to take a hard look at the economic impact."