Sports Illustrated goes to bat for Vegas

Dan Kulin

Wednesday, Dec. 8, 2004 | 11:11 a.m.

Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman and City Councilman Larry Brown will head to Major League Baseball's winter meetings in Anaheim, Calif., this weekend with a boost from the nation's leading sports magazine.

The Web site version of the Dec. 13 edition of Sports Illustrated says Las Vegas will have an NBA or Major League Baseball franchise within 10 years. The print edition could hit newsstands as early as today.

In the piece, article author Ian Thomsen addresses the sports betting issue, calling it a main reason why in the past top sports leagues have been hesitant to consider expanding into Las Vegas. Thomsen says "if the leagues are truly concerned about sports betting -- as they should be -- then Las Vegas may be the safest place to have a team," because sports betting here is policed by the Gaming Control Board.

And overall the article presents a pro-Las Vegas case for the city attracting a major league team.

"The barriers that have kept the major professional leagues from placing teams in Las Vegas are on the verge of being toppled like the Berlin Wall," the article says.

"Cash-starved owners are searching desperately for cities in which to expand, and the last frontier (in the continental U.S., at least) is Las Vegas, the manifest destiny of the selling of sports and sex as mainstream entertainment, which began with Joe Willie Namath. Then, too, gambling has become such an accepted part of our culture -- from playing the lottery at a convenience store to playing the slots at the nearest casino to playing Texas Hold 'em online -- that the will to prevent pro athletes from suiting up in the nation's gambling capital is weakening by the day.

"In fact, the only remaining question is: Which league will move a franchise there first?" Thomsen writes.

Goodman sees the article as a positive influence on his efforts.

"I think it will be the entree to the owners' meeting in Anaheim when I show up on Saturday with Elvis and a showgirl on each arm," Goodman said. "It's important we get this kind of publicity."

The mayor said he was interviewed for the article about eight months ago and when he first saw the article on Monday he said, "Whew, I'm glad it's positive."

Goodman said he's expecting a copy of the magazine in which the article is published to arrive at his office today. Goodman said he will make sure the owners see the article even if he has to hand it out.

Goodman said he will be at the meeting Saturday to talk with the owners, but he has no formal meetings scheduled for the visit.

"I hope to bring home a whale," Goodman said, using a common casino term for a high-roller to describe his hopes that he can find someone "to start some serious discussions with."

Goodman would not say if he has spoken recently with any team owners.

The Sports Illustrated article said the Oakland A's are a potential candidate. Goodman said he couldn't comment on whether or not he's had any discussions with baseball officials about the A's.

During a recent interview, Brown, who played professional minor league baseball when he first moved to Las Vegas, said the trip is a chance for he and the mayor to keep Las Vegas on the minds of baseball's top decision-makers.

"It's to find out what the city has to do to remain at the top of the list or get ready to take the next step," Brown said. "Up until the Expos the image was that the population and media market was not big enough."

But Brown said that image was reshaped when a group of business investors tried to lure baseball to relocate the Montreal Expos to Las Vegas.

That group ultimately lost out to Washington, D.C., but during the selection process, many top baseball names spoke seriously about having a team in Las Vegas.

"Major League Baseball was saying positive things about Las Vegas as a market," Brown said.