Mayor’s push for NBA team complicates Nevada stance

Monday, March 5, 2001 | 11:51 a.m.

Casino industry leaders are worried that Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman's push to bring the Vancouver Grizzlies to town will hurt a key political fight in Washington.

Just the talk of landing the struggling National Basketball Association franchise is creating disharmony on the home front in the Herculean battle against a ban on college sports betting in Nevada, the industry executives said.

The NBA has made it clear that any move by the Grizzlies here would require a voluntary betting ban on all NBA games, or at least on all Grizzlies games.

Gaming leaders say that would place the casino industry and Nevada's congressional delegation in a position of looking hypocritical in the eyes of the NCAA, which is spearheading the college betting ban.

State gaming regulators recently lifted a longtime betting prohibition on UNLV and University of Nevada, Reno, games as part of the fight in Washington to save college wagering here from the clutches of the NCAA.

An angry Goodman this morning fired back at his influential critics, saying they have an obligation to be good citizens and help him woo the Grizzlies.

"Shame on them, if they don't help me," Goodman said. "I have enough of an uphill battle from the Grizzlies and the NBA. I don't need it from the community leaders. If they love Las Vegas the way I do, than they should support us."

Publicly, the congressional delegation is staying mum on the subject, and several well-placed casino industry sources interviewed did not want to be identified.

But one key Nevada source on Capitol Hill said Goodman's efforts on behalf of Grizzlies owner Michael Heisley are cutting into the delegation's strategy against the NCAA and its allies in Washington. The delegation recently introduced a bill to study illegal sports betting around the country to counter the NCAA's offensive in the Silver State.

Top casino executives are in Washington this week to meet with congressional members from other states to rally support for the Nevada bill.

"Getting the Grizzlies to come to Las Vegas is a real long-shot and fraught with with some very dangerous political mines," the Nevada delegation source said. "The mayor has good intentions, and he's trying to improve downtown and the city as a whole. But he's not really thinking in terms of the big picture and how this will affect other national fights."

NCAA officials appear to be sitting back and letting Nevadans air out their differences over Goodman's NBA campaign.

"We're certainly monitoring the mayor's comments and the casino industry's responses," said Bill Saum, the NCAA's director of agents and gambling.

Saum, who testified at the Nevada Legislature last week, said his organization continues to maintain that it's "inappropriate" to wager on all professional and college athletic events.

"We don't really worry about the opposition," he said. "We have to do the right thing, and we have to get our points across, which we did in Carson City last week. Whatever action the casino industry takes, we'll just leave it to them. What's right will prevail here."

Nevada regulators and gaming executives have come out opposed to implementing any voluntary betting ban on NBA games.

Some within the hierarchy of the industry already are calling Goodman's push for the Grizzlies "dead on arrival."

Industry leaders are upset with Goodman for not giving them notice before announcing at his weekly news conference Thursday that Heisley considered Las Vegas his No. 1 choice to move.

"Nobody knows what the proposal is,"one ranking casino insider said. "The mayor never works to build a consensus. He just goes off half-cocked on these things. He could use his time more productively by solving the city's traffic congestion and try to help the schools in this community."

Goodman said his meeting with Heisley came up too fast for him to consult with casino leaders.

"I'm not asking for too much," he said. "This is good for the city. I'm not the one who will have a guilty conscious if this doesn't happen. That's for sure."

Goodman has one unlikely defender in the Rev. Tom Grey, a leading national critic of the casino industry.

Grey, executive director of the National Coalition Against Gambling, said an NBA franchise would enhance the city's image and be good for local residents.

But he added he doesn't see the casino industry ever giving in to Goodman on this issue.

"They've always talked about diversifying Las Vegas, but when push comes to shove, it's the bottom line," he said. "If you remove any sports betting, it hurts the casino industry's bottom line."

Grey agreed with Nevada leaders that talk of the Grizzlies coming to Las Vegas is hurting the state's battle with the NCAA.

"They better sing in unison, not harmony," Grey said. "To have Goodman come in and sing a discordant note is not what the industry wants. He's not on the same page of music, and they know that they are in a vulnerable position right now."

Casino executives said there are too many practical questions about the Grizzlies move.

"I don't know anyone in the industry who's wildly enthusiastic about bringing an NBA team here," one executive said. "We don't bring customers here to send them to NBA games. We bring them here to gamble."