Editorial: Lure of pro sports is too hard to resist

Thursday, May 17, 2001 | 8:58 a.m.

Well, it looks like Las Vegas is going to be a big-league sports town after all. No, Las Vegas hasn't landed an NFL team or obtained the rights to an NBA franchise. Instead, the Nevada Legislature has passed tax breaks to lure professional auto racing teams and the headquarters of Championship Auto Racing Teams (the sanctioning body of a league for open-wheel racing) to the Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Now this region can join all those others around the nation that have allowed themselves to be snookered into using public funds to prop up professional sports.

Despite the Legislature's action, there is a growing disconnect between the politicians -- who will do anything to bring big-league teams to their cities -- and the local residents, who believe that they're just being taken advantage of by professional sports owners. Even fans are tired of the chronic threats by professional teams that public financing is a condition for them to move to their city. Unfortunately for Nevadans, the Legislature didn't call the bluff of professional auto racing teams.