Friday, Jan. 16, 2004 | 11:09 a.m.
Caesars Entertainment Inc. is talking to Major League Baseball about moving a franchise to the Las Vegas Valley, a company spokesman confirmed Thursday. The discussions apparently include the prospect of fielding a team in a yet-to-be-built stadium just off the Strip.
The league plans to have new ownership and a new home for the Montreal Expos by 2005, Commissioner Bud Selig announced Thursday after the quarterly meeting of team owners in Scottsdale, Ariz.
Members of the organization's relocation committee have visited several cities, including coming to Las Vegas twice for presentations, the league's website notes.
Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman referred to the presentations during his regular news conference Thursday morning, although he would not specify who was making the proposal or what it entailed, other than that it involved land in Clark County close to the Strip.
Later in the day, Caesars Entertainment spokesman Robert Stewart confirmed that "Caesars Entertainment has had some very, very preliminary discussions with some potential business partners and representatives of Major League Baseball about the possibility of bringing a team to Las Vegas in a stadium in the general area" of the empty land behind Paris Las Vegas, a resort owned by Caesars Entertainment.
"I'd highlight these are very preliminary discussions and there's not much more to report than that," Stewart said, declining to discuss whether more meetings have been scheduled, whether the idea involves ownership of a team, building a stadium, or both, and other details that would have to be settled for such an idea to take root.
Last year the three main candidates for the Expos were Washington, D.C., Northern Virginia and Portland, Ore. But, the Major League Baseball website notes, "none of the groups concluded site selection or put together financing for a new ballpark, (the league's) top criteria for relocating the team."
Other cities being visited by the Major League Baseball committee include: San Antonio; Hampton Roads, Va.; San Juan, Puerto Rico; Mexico City; and Monterrey, Mexico. As for Caesars' chances of landing the team, Stewart said, "We're still in the information-gathering phase, and as soon as we have something more concrete to share we'll be happy to share it." Legalized betting on sports in Nevada has long been the major obstacle to Las Vegas' efforts to get a major pro sports team, however. That stopped a deal with the NBA when the Vancouver Grizzlies were looking to relocate.
Major League Baseball officials could not be reached this morning for comment on whether they are now willing to overlook Nevada's legalized sports betting or, if the league isn't willing to overlook it, why the relocation committee visited Las Vegas twice for presentations.
Goodman consistently has championed the idea of pro sports in the valley, and there have been several proposals to bring a sports team, including the National Basketball Association and major and minor league baseball.
The most frequent quote from Goodman has been that Las Vegas is a big league city, and needs a big league team. He has said that when explaining why he has been unwilling to back the construction of a new stadium for the minor league Las Vegas 51s baseball team, which is a farm team for the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Goodman has talked with such high-level officials as David Stern, commissioner of the NBA, and the discussions generally involved use of the city-owned 61 acres downtown. Those talks failed, however, and the city settled on creating a medical campus, with residential and retail development and a performing arts center on the 61-acre site.
While the city of Las Vegas contains what historically has been "downtown," the emerging urban core of the valley is off the Strip, where hundreds of thousands of tourists congregate, tens of thousands of workers are employed, high-rise residential towers are developing, and billion-dollar buildings are constructed. That confluence of local money and tourists could offset one of the other obstacles to Las Vegas getting a professional team -- the relatively small population base of 1.6 million, which roughly matches MLB's smallest market, in Milwaukee. Las Vegas, on the other hand, lures about 34 million visitors a year.
Clark County Manager Thom Reilly said his office has been briefed on the idea, and "the county has pledged if the financing comes through to work with them as best as possible."
The county has a special projects team "which is well-versed in handling projects of this magnitude. We have people trained to streamline the process," Reilly said. That includes working through such issues as zoning and building permits.
Issues such as traffic would be high on the list of specifics to be addressed, Reilly said.
"On the surface bringing in a major league baseball team is a positive, but the specifics are probably where there would be more scrutiny at various levels, not just with the county," Reilly said.
Commissioner Bruce Woodbury said he has heard about the idea, but has not received a briefing yet.
"I'm a real strong baseball fan and I think it would be wonderful," he said. "That's the only way it's going to work, if the private sector is behind it and it's out near the Strip where there would be a large fan base."
When asked whether he would support putting public money into such a project, he said he would have to see a proposal.
"I'm always a little skeptical about any of these major leagues, whether football, basketball, or baseball, coming to Las Vegas, with all the gambling stigma they've raised in the past," Woodbury said. "But I'm kind of excited about it and I want to see what happens."
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