Editorial: Holy cow! It might be … it could be …

Friday, April 2, 2004 | 9:43 a.m.

Is it possible that the crack of the bat, the roar of the crowd and the pitch of the bleachers vendor -- "Ice Cold Beer!" -- will one day compete on the Strip with the clanging of slot machines? Well, with the Montreal Expos in need of a buyer and a new city, anything's possible.

On the front page of Thursday's Sun, sports reporter Rob Miech documented the serious look that Las Vegas is getting from investors in Illinois, New York and Oregon. They have formed groups -- Las Vegas Stadium Co. and Teamscape -- to study the possibility of buying the Expos and relocating them here. Miech reported that Caesars Entertainment Inc., parent company of several hotel-casinos, including Caesars Palace, Bally's, Paris and the Flamingo, is considering becoming the landlord of a $400 million, retractable-roof stadium on land behind Paris and Bally's, if the Expos move here. A consultant for Las Vegas Stadium Co. and Teamscape has retained HOK Sport of Kansas City to possibly build the stadium. HOK Sport has built stadiums in Baltimore, Denver, Philadelphia, San Diego and other Major League Baseball cities. The article noted that members of MLB's r elocation committee have visited Las Vegas at least four times recently. Miech also reported that our main industry, gambli! ng, may not be the deal-breaker it was once thought to be.

We understand that actually bringing Major League Baseball here is a long shot. Our 1.6 million population barely qualifies as large enough. Television is the major source of revenue for baseball and our market is comparatively small. The proposed Strip location is problematic -- how will fans efficiently get in and out of there? But if there is a real chance of bringing a major league team here, government and civic leaders should work together to make it happen. Las Vegas would still be a whistle stop if it hadn't taken big chances in the past -- and overcome major problems associated with them.