Columnist Jeff German: The obstacles in bringing a major league team to Vegas

Friday, Dec. 2, 2005 | 7:52 a.m.

Jeff German's column appears Sunday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday in the Sun. Reach him at german@lasvegassun.com or (702) 259-4067.

The hype is back.

Now that the Florida Marlins have received permission from Major League Baseball to find another home, Las Vegas has once more surfaced as a leading suitor.

And once more Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman is spearheading the push for the National League team.

With his usual flair, Goodman has been stirring up the media in Las Vegas and across the country in the hopes of hooking the Marlins.

The colorful mayor, still joking about wanting to name a team "The Oscars," found his way this week into the lead of a cover story in USA Today, the nation's largest general interest newspaper.

And though it all sounds great -- we certainly deserve a big-time professional sports franchise here -- it's a campaign that lacks substance.

Alan Feldman, a senior vice president at MGM Mirage, the city's biggest casino industry player, believes Goodman's latest push is going nowhere.

"What the mayor is doing is properly advocating that Las Vegas is a major league city," Feldman says. "What isn't lining up in this discussion is the economic expectation of a major league team with the economic reality of Las Vegas."

For starters, Feldman says, he's still not convinced that the community is ready to support a major league franchise.

With 81 home games to fill, he explains, a baseball team would have a tough time competing for business with the world-class entertainment on the Strip.

Feldman also says it's ludicrous to think that the tourism industry somehow would subsidize a franchise.

"The notion that tourists are going to come here to see baseball is just mind-boggling," he says.

But the biggest obstacle to bringing the Marlins here, Feldman says, would be the formula for funding a new stadium.

Baseball has gotten into the habit of seeking taxpayer dollars to help build new ballparks around the league, he says.

But that approach, Feldman insists, would face strong opposition in Las Vegas from his company and others that have invested billions of dollars here over the years.

"We've paid for every single thing we've ever built, every attraction we've ever built," he says. "We've paid every penny of it.

"As a resident of the city of Las Vegas, as a parent and as an executive of our company, I would love to see a team here. But I would personally lie down in the road to prevent taxpayer money from being wasted on a stadium.

"If the Marlins want to bring a team to Las Vegas, then they should do what every other business owner has done -- bring their money and invest it here."

Feldman, however, doesn't believe the Marlins would be willing to do that, especially when other cities, such as Portland, which is working overtime to attract the team, are offering public funding.

So keep pitching, Mr. Mayor, if it makes you happy.

But until the Marlins bring some money to the table, all this talk about the team coming to town should be taken for what it is -- just talk.