Las Vegas could be moving down the court a little faster on a 20,000-seat downtown sports arena.
That's what Mayor Oscar Goodman said today at his weekly press conference, following up on his plans to have the Las Vegas City Council next week look at an exclusive contract with The Cordish Companies to start planning it out.
"These are serious people. These are not people who are operating on a wing and a prayer," Goodman said. "Cordish has a proven track record. They don't have time to play games."
The contract would allow Cordish, a commercial real estate developer based in Baltimore, to have exclusive rights to study the feasibility of the project, which would encompass 18 acres, including the City Hall campus and 12 acres to the east.
For the past several years, the city had dealt with developer REI Neon at putting together a financing package for a downtown arena/hotel-casino/entertainment development project.
But "that would have been a miracle for that deal to have ever gotten legs and taken off," Goodman said.
The mayor said he and his office have been dealing with Cordish for several years, almost on a daily basis.
"They're taking this very seriously ... I don't think they would be wasting their time unless they were very, very serious," Goodman said.
The company had put off working on the downtown arena project because it was dealing with developments in other cities, Goodman said. Those include The Walk in Atlantic City, Ballpark Village in St. Louis and the Power and Light District in Kansas City, Mo.
"They always said that they loved Vegas, they love the idea of the entertainment complex, the arena and a hotel on the site where we are now at city hall," he said.
He said the economy will be a factor in creating the project. And he said how the NBA does financially this year will also have an effect.
The company will have to put up some money to study the feasibility of the project, he said.
"I just don't think they would sign this paper unless they felt very, very seriously that this is the right place to be," he said. "The question is whether or not everything is going to pencil out."
Goodman said he had worked hard to get NBA officials and owners interested in the arena.
"I believe as soon as we have an arena — this is my belief, I have nothing that is signed in blood, there's no contract — but I believe we'll have a team," he said.
The mayor also said he was not ruling out a professional hockey team coming to town to play in the arena either.
"I don't know anything about hockey. I'm learning rugby now," he said, laughing. "I love basketball. So I thought about basketball. Whatever the market is gonna be, it's gonna be. There are a lot of great hockey fans here. The truth of the matter is that in many of these arenas they have both. ... I would hope they would have both because I think our constituents are entitled to both."
Basketball has moved along more quickly than hockey, he said. However, he said NHL commissioner Gary Bettam, who was in Las Vegas a few months ago, "is high on Las Vegas." Bettam has expressed no problems with locating a team here, where there is also sports betting, Goodman said. David Stern, the NBA's commissioner, initially had a lot of problems with sports betting here, but he has ceded them to the team owners, who have no problems with it, Goodman said.
Building the arena would mean that a somewhat controversial project -- the construction of a new city hall -- would have to be approved by the Las Vegas City Council.
"If this site isn't vacant, I don't think there's a deal," Goodman said. But he said he saw no reason why the $145 million project wouldn't be built, particularly since the federal Building America Bonds became available for it.
The mayor said he's pushing for the arena/hotel-casino/entertainment district project, number one, as a way to get jobs for the community. He's also pushing for it as a way to revitalize the downtown. Cordish's projects in both Louisville and Kansas City have revitalized those formerly two dead downtowns with vibrant, energetic live entertainment districts, he said.
"My friend, the mayor of Louisville, said they're just giving Cordish as much land as Cordish will take," Goodman said. "Then to have an arena, then takes us, in my opinion, into being a world-class city."
Don't need it..don't want it.
Funny, the planning for Ballpark Village in St. Louis began in 1999 and 10 years later it still hasn't been built.
It is my understanding that Nevada can not have any Professional sports teams because of the legal sports betting!
You're crazy. This would boost the economy in ways this town hasn't ever seen.
It's another financial boondoggle in disguise. Agrees with tvegas. Don't need it....don't want it.
"It is my understanding that Nevada can not have any Professional sports teams because of the legal sports betting"
Wrong!
I'd love a big-time arena but this is seeming more and more like the elusive L.A. bullet train.
What ever happened to AEG and the Flamingo & Koval arena?
logic, you are correct ... no rule against it in any way, it just depends on how each league would want to deal with that. The NFL, by far, is the worst. The easiest might be the NHL.
This is a contract for just a
TWO YEAR DEAL to
S T U D Y
this - again.
See ya' in 2011, maybe.
(Another "Vision Committee", only with free publicity.)
Las Vegas already has a 19,000-seat arena in the Thomas & Mack Center. How would a new stadium that's similar in size (1) be more likely to attract an NBA team and (2) cannibalize the events that are currently being run at the T&M (e.g., PBR Finals, Lakers preseason games)?
Personally, I think the money would be better spent by exploring the possibility of an NFL-size football stadium closer to the Strip and/or downtown. (I'm not sure it would work, but I think it's a better draw than another basketball arena.)
An NFL-style stadium could host UNLV games, UFL games, could vie for a BCS Bowl game, be home to an MLS soccer team, host the World Cup, host ESPN's X-Games, host monster truck rallies and motocross events, host large outdoor music concerts, token outdoor hockey games, and could possibly host preseason NFL games, the Super Bowl, and might even attract an NFL team. (I know the NFL hasn't liked the idea of a pro team in Vegas in the past, but if these other events proved fruitful and viable, then the NFL might reconsider.)
Las Vegas has 330+ days of sunshine each year, and football/soccer season usually coincides with some of the nicer weather for being outdoors as a spectator. A large football/soccer stadium closer to downtown would - in my opinion - bring in more revenue and big-ticket events than another NBA-style arena that isn't much different than the Thomas & Mack.
I'm new to Vegas, so perhaps this is something that has been explored in the past. Does anyone know why something like this isn't on the table?
THIS IS GREAT NEWS!
Vegas NEEDS some pro teams. NHL would be the easiest, then probably MLS, MLB, NFL, and lastly NBA.
Newcomer - I'm with you. An NBA arena makes no sense as we already have the facilities here that can't sell out an NBA game anyways. A football/soccer stadium does make the most sense. With the great abundance of foreign tourists who are all much more fond of soccer than football it makes one wonder why LV doesn't have a soccer field for at least LA to come come play, if not their own team. And a soccer field could be readily converted into a football stadium for UNLV, UFL, and maybe eventually NFL provided proper care is taken.
Can you imagine the Mayor, the Governor, Senator Reid, and Congresswoman Berkley flying to see the NBA with the likes of the Fertitta Brothers, Jim Murren, Gary Loveman, Bill Boyd, Jackie Gaughn, etc...they are our best salespersons to call on the NBA...not the Cordish Group. These are the people that can deliver on any promises. And, of course, the NFL would not be interested in 20,000 seats but the NBA would. Not too much interest in Hockey. We have to control our destiny, and not an outside source. It is our town! We need to make it happen.
No stadium makes sense unless the private sector can front the dollars. Glendale spent hundreds of millions of dollars subsidizing a stadium for the NHL now the team is bankrupt and more than likely will leave town.
Subsidizing athletics is a poor corporatist idea that robs from low-income people to pay the rich.
Serious - I'm not proposing a 20,000-seat NFL arena (even Sam Boyd Stadium is bigger than that)...I'm proposing a 75,000-seat football/soccer stadium.
If ownership rights and lease agreements are set up right, then the city of Las Vegas could recover the costs of building the stadium over time. In the long-run, the stadium could be profitable for the city. The notion that tax-subsidized projects like this are robbing from the poor and giving to the rich is understandable but misguided; think of the tax revenues that would come to the city and county (an extension of those poor taxpayers) if 2-3 more big-ticket events were lured to Las Vegas each year. Also, some of those taxpayers might appreciate having a local professional sports team and the ability to attend some big-ticket events in their own city or county.
Financial viability is obviously paramount. Gibbons brings up a good point in that the Phoenix Coyotes are not a financially viable team. It's ludicrous to build an arena like the one they built in Glendale that can attract only a few revenue sources. An NFL-style stadium in Vegas would have a lot more variety and sustainability in revenue potential. (See my post from above to read about possible events that a football/soccer stadium could host.)
In summary, Vegas already has a big basketball arena. Vegas (and UNLV) needs a football/soccer stadium to attract different big-ticket items than the ones we already bring in to the Thomas & Mack.
NewComer,
The costs are never recouped over time. Stadiums are incredibly expensive.
Furthermore, these calculations fail to include estimates of what the money could have been used on.
Imagine Las Vegas cutting taxes by $50 million a year over the next 20 years instead of blowing $1 billion on a stadium. Extra income in people's pockets for the next 20 years means more sales, more jobs, higher profits, more investment.
And it isn't misguided to say these projects rob the poor to pay the rich. Sports teams are very wealthy. The average taxpayer isn't. Taxpayers build the stadiums and in most cases the teams either get to own them or lease them virtually rent free. In some, the teams get to keep all the profits generated at the stadium. In many cases today the stadium is build with all sorts of neat amenities like shops and restaurants which ends up driving local shops and restaurants in the area out of business.
If you want sports teams do it the natural way. Keep the cost of operating a business low with reasonable, easy predictable taxes and a regulatory framework that isn't intrusive.
If people want it the private sector will build it.
Build it!
If the Maloof's can't afford to build their own arena why would they expect the taxpayers of Nevada to do so.
This is a new attempt to subsidize billionaires with multi million dollar player at taxpayers expense because the voters in Sacramento told them NO.
First, why is the deal 'exclusive?'
Why not open the space up to all comers and award 'exclusive' rights to close the deal to whoever puts forward the best offer?
He's locked himself out of negotiating with anyone else for the space for the next 18 months and gotten nothing in the way of a commitment from them in return.
Second, why has the city spent 'years' on a deal Goodman admits would have taken a 'miracle' to get done?
I know his role is mostly 'pitchman' for the City selling every new project downtown like its snake oil, but if all you are going to do is sell deals to the masses, at least hire somebody with a brain to negotiate the deal for you so you don't end up getting screwed.
Not sure how new you are newcomer, but David Stern commented during all-star weekend that the NBA could never come to Vegas without a new facility as the T&M cannot handle the rigors of the NBA. They had to bring in a structural engineer to make sure the building could physically stand up with all that goes into the production.
Any study should include "What would the Mexicans like to have built?"...Maybe a 150,000 seat soccer stadium, or a bullfighting arena?
Vegas is the largest city in the USA without at least one profossional sports team. Now is the time. And I'm sure all the casinos would buy up the high-end suites and floor seats for thier whales. It would probably succeed big time!
Heck, if Memphis (pop 600K) has a NBA team then Vegas should have one too.
Why don't they just implode Cashman Field, make it a full retractable roof sports complex, can't make it outdoor in the middle of summer, (football, soccer, baseball, convention center). It has the room. Just help find a nice place the homeless to migrate, like Jean NV.
The Dallas stadium did cost just over $1 billion, but University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale (which has already hosted a Super Bowl, several BCS bowl games, and will get WWE's Wrestlemania in 2010) cost about $500M. In both cases, taxpayers picked up about $300-325M of the stadium costs.)
I haven't done any empirical research on the subject, so I'm certainly not an expert here...
If taxpayers put up $300M over 2-3 years to build a stadium and it hosted a Super Bowl, a couple of BCS bowl games, an MLS soccer team, UNLV football, a couple of U2-style concerts, WWE's Wrestlemania, the NCAA Final Four, and ESPN's X-Games within its first five to seven years, it seems to me like the return on investment would be there. (Again, I'm conjecturing here to stir up a discussion about the idea.)
The lease revenue could be nominal - or free - given the tourism revenue generated from fans coming and staying in Vegas for 3-5 days surrounding a big-ticket event. I assume that fans who come for the PBR Finals and the National Finals Rodeos spend quite a lot of money on hotel rooms, restaurants, shows on the Strip, and in the casinos. I imagine that a BCS bowl game or a Super Bowl (or the X-Games, an NFL preseason game, or the World Cup) would bring tens of thousands more fans who would stay for a week and spend ludicrous amounts of money in Las Vegas.
Because Vegas is fairly unique in its hotel/casino offerings, I would think fans would flock here if a large event could be hosted here. Cities like Tampa Bay and Phoenix can host Super Bowls without the allure of casinos and the other world-class entertainment that Vegas can offer during the week-long festivities surrounding these big-ticket events; I think the combination of Vegas and a stadium for big-ticket events would draw a lot of events and millions of fans over a relatively short period of time.
My curiosity is piqued on this one...my first impression would be that Glendale residents would already have recovered their $300M investment after playing host to more than 120 events (including a Super Bowl and 3 BCS bowl games) in just three years.
I'm not arguing either way here; I just think there must be a reason why cities contribute to build these stadiums. It seems like the tax revenues would be there to support something like that in Vegas.
Stop with your madness, Mayor Goodman.
Unless you are willing to pay for your dream stadium with your own personal funds, give up your unreasonable idea of building a sports arena--downtown or anywhere else in Las Vegas. You've been pushing for this the day after you took office. Stop. Okay? Just stop.
Mayor Goodman...Hey what you smokin rummy ? You aren't going to get anything good excited about 20,000 seats in this day and age ! Look into some type of mental care for yourself !
If it's such a great thing, let the private sector pay for it.
Let me get this straight - the ineffectual Mayor is proposing on spending millions of taxpayer dollars (trust me, Cordish sure in heck is not paying for it) on the hopes on securing a professional franchise. Here is the thing - who is going to buy the tickets? Where are the sponsorship dollars coming from? Who will secure the naming right? And here is the true hustle - guess where the proposed site is? You guess it, where the present City Hall lies. The ineffectual one is trying all kinds of ways to get his palace built. The dumb City Council isn't off the hook either. This "if we build it they will come" b.s. must stop.
Vegassucks - if you dont like vegas why are you reading the city articles ?? You should leave
Iamdamanusirrnot - you are the most nagative person, do you ever have anything positive or useful to say??
This would be a great thing for our city and well overdue.
Start a Nevada State Lottery and use the proceeds accordingly.
Remember the last time we had that NBA riffraff in town?
A football/soccer stadium would be a good fit for LV and the best place for it would be the old stardust site [ which will be gathering dust as an eyesore on the strip forever]... fine the owners until they either build there or forfit their right to it.
i officially hate this guy now. he will not let this pro sports thing go. look, there are zillion things we DO need in this town and a pro sports team / arena is like 145th down on the list.
it amazes me the amount of bumpkins that buy into this nonsense.
i'm from st. louis and the cardinals and the construction companies strong-armed the city into a new stadium with the promise of a ballpark village with "community access" and "events"...it's still sitting empty.
pro sports teams and arenas are nothing but a way for politicians and their buddies in the construction industry rich. they sell it to stupid people in the form of "pride and jobs".
yes, we all remember how well the nba all-star game went and the only jobs it brings are $8/hr. jobs selling peanuts and beer.
vegas doesn't NEED a pro sports team. that's such a stupid statement. we were one of the fastest growing cities in america for a decade and we didn't have one.
so now, that our glory days are behind us, and we've lost population, you think we need a sports team. could we even SUPPORT a sports team.
it will NOT boost our economy in ways we've never seen like the moron said a few posts up.
how?
how will it boost our economy?
will all the unemployed people go to the games instead of buying food or gas?
give me a break.
Great idea. Another reason to visit LV and more for the locals.
Oscar can make all the speeches he wants, but the NBA wants no part of an ongoing presence in Las Vegas after the All-Star Weekend fiasco here. THAT'S A FACT, not an opinion. The USA Basketball stuff in the summer doesn't count.
"It might lure NBA team", it will lure pigeons, bums and whores.
Considering 95% of the NBA Players are Alcoholics, Drug Addicts, Sex Addicts, and Addicted Gamblers, it's a GREAT IDEA! Oh, and the other 5% are IN DENIAL!
NBA?? thugball sucks! Over payed whining babies with criminal records and a posse with semi auto weapons who's NBA owners are going broke. Yeah yeah, land a team here, they play a few years, attendance dives every year then they move on. Same old story but now you have an empty arena payed for by the taxpayers of Clark County.
And another thing, quit saying an event is sold out when a quarter of the seats are hotel comps!
iam willing to put alot of trust in Oscar Goodman..i am leary, but he has been a very good mayor and leader so far....
Remember one important fact. Once the government creates a tax, they never repeal it. They will replace it for another project because everyone gets accustom to paying the new tax. No more taxes!
Raise the necessary funds from private donors.
foreclosures abound and this guy wants to build a sports complex? sounds like the final chapter in the fall of the roman empire.
UNLV has no interest in playing in a monstrosity of a municipal stadium. So don't include us in any of your silly 75,000 seat Stadium plans.
UNLV needs their own 40,000 seat Football stadium built On-Campus that is for them alone.
A new NBA Basketball Arena needs to be built on the Las Vegas Strip. This would allow UNLV to have full control of the Thomas & Mack Center and make it a UNLV ONLY Basketball facility. The new NBA/NHL Arena would be perfect for hosting concerts, Rodeos, NCAA Conference Basketball Tournaments etc.
A 35,000 seat Baseball stadium should be built downtown. I think the mayor is wrong in pushing for a basketball arena downtown and should instead focus on baseball for downtown. A new Basketball/Hockey arena belongs on the strip. Baseball should be built downtown.
We all saw what happened when the all-star game came to town.Criminals came out of the woodwork.Vegas doesnt need to foot the bill so ten carjackers in shorts can run up and down a wood floor.
If it wasnt for B-ball, these guys would be hanging off the back of a garbage with their hat on sideways.
It would most certainly boost the economy. The Tigers and Lions and have done wonders for the democratic controlled City of Detroit. It's a regular boomtown.
SufferinSuccotash - Why wouldn't UNLV want to play in a large, brand new, easily accessible NFL-style arena? I realize UNLV fans won't fill the stadium each week, but I guarantee that more fans will travel 15 minutes to see the game in the comfort of a modern stadium than currently travel 45 minutes to watch a game in the dust bowl out east. Like other NCAA teams playing in NFL stadiums, UNLV could sell the luxury suites and the lower bowl tickets and ignore the upper level tickets. Also, don't discount the fact that more out-of-town fans would come to Vegas to view a game if the stadium were more accessible. (I know that minimizes the home field advantage for UNLV, but the visiting fans already represent 30-40% of the fan base for most home games anyway.)
Also, what kind of revenue loss would UNLV suffer if all of the premier events at the Thomas & Mack Center were moved elsewhere? My understanding is that UNLV intentionally built the Thomas & Mack to be a multi-purpose building in order to diversify the revenue stream.
I'm not sure Vegas necessarily needs a pro team, but a football/soccer stadium in Las Vegas makes sense in order to attract big one-time events on a rotating basis like the Super Bowl, a BCS bowl, Wrestlemania, Motocross finals, the World Cup, ESPN's X-Games, large outdoor concerts, etc. Those events bring tourists to Las Vegas and don't rely on the locals. When tourists come to town, there's a multiplier effect that reaches into the hotels, casinos, restaurants, and shows in Vegas; each of those produce tax revenue for the city and county that can be used to help finance other needed things.
In my opinion, a baseball stadium would only make sense if it's covered with A/C. Baseball - which if my favorite sport - is played during the dog days of summer, and Vegas suffers from some serious heat issues that affect fans' willingness to sit for 3+ hours. A football/soccer stadium makes sense because the events are usually played during the months when our weather is more enjoyable.
The reason Las Vegas is suffering so badly right now is because fewer tourists are coming and spending money in the city. Diversifying the city's offerings would help ensure a more stable revenue stream.
Oscar
Why don't you try solving some real problems for a change?
UNLV should never play in a facility that they don't own and they won't! A large, obnoxious Municipal Stadium would be one of the worst things that ever happened to UNLV Athletics if they agreed to play in such a venue. UNLV has ZERO INTEREST in playing in a building that has the Name CHARGERS or PANTHERS plastered all over the MONSTROSITY of a facility. UNLV has no interest of playing in any Municipal owned facility where we would be treated as 2nd or 3rd class citizens. UNLV deserves the best and will not settle or agree to anything less.
UNLV will own all of our own facilities for our own teams. They will be UNLV Facilities with the name UNLV on them! They will have RED SEATS throughout the facility (NOT GREEN OR ORANGE OR PURPLE SEATS).
You want to build a monstrosity of a Municipal Stadium. GO AHEAD. Just don't include UNLV in any of that nonsense talk. UNLV will stay where we are or we will build our own better facilities that fit our needs. UNLV has no interest in playing in a MUNICIPAL OWNED FACILITY NOW OR EVER! UNLV will not take a back seat in any facility to an NFL team or an NBA team or a MLB or a NHL team. NEVER! Don't even bother asking us to do so.
We want the rodeo and all other events out of the Thomas & Mack IMMEDIATELY or as soon as possible. This city must build a 2nd arena which can house those events. UNLV Stadiums and Arena's should be and will be for UNLV College Sports Only and that is the way it should be.
I hope the Mayor builds a new 20,000 seat Arena for NBA, NHL, Rodeos, Concerts and NCAA Conference Tournament Championships. The Thomas & Mack will take a financial hit without these events but UNLV will survive and thrive in our own building for our own use! The way it is meant to be!
Don't call us or mention us in any of your MONSTROSITY of MUNICIPAL STADIUM IDEAS! Thank You.
Vegasfun
I am originally from Memphis.Moved here 10 months ago and I support having a professional sports team here in Las Vegas.I know what it has done for the city of Memphis.I also have seen what the developement of the FedEx Forum has done for downtown Memphis and Beal Street.The problem in Memphis is the City has always been a huge supporter of the University of Memphis Basketball program and it has been very hard for the Memphis Grizlies organization to tap into that market.Now that the U of M has lost the charasmatic head coach John Calipari I hope the Grizlies will take advantage of the market because the U of M is rebuilding.Memphis is a town of Basketball.They have a topnoch minor league baseball facility within one and half blocks from the FedEx Forum.The MLB players from the Cardinals loved using it for training in the offf season and the City of Memphis has not really supported it.The first year it was open the RedBirds made it to the AAA Championship and they got a little support.Since then it has dwindled to almost nothing.
If Las Vegas gets a NBA and NHL team the people of this town need to support it.I truly think that a first class arena here in vegas would be great for this town and the development around downtown.You can not go wrong.But i will also say this 20,000 seats is not quite enough they truly need to move it to about 25,000 to 27,500 so they can compete for NCAA tourney's.I praise Mayor Goodmans love for this town.I comming in recently have noticed that his passion for this town is genuin and what Las Vegas to be the best and he cares about the people of this town.
Go to Memphis,New Orleans,Atlanta and the Mayors there are just there for the check.For Mayor Goodman to look at projects and fight for this town as he has shows me that he cares.Those who oppose his ideas on a consistant basis are to me just Miserables.They are stuck in the mud and constantly negative.Negativity only hold towns back and Las vegas is a town that needs to constantly move foward.
Las vegas is two large of a town to have the small town mentality.it has to think outside the box to stay progressive.That is what I see in Mayor Goodman,a man who is constantly thinking outside the box.Looking for ways to improve the National Icon of a City.Yes you see alot of money being spent but right now money needs to be spent.Spending money only stimulates more money being spent.With the Strip and all its glitz and to have a popping downtown at the sametime the town would rebound and flourish more than it ever has.Now only if we had a man in Washington D.C. that loves Vegas and Nevada like Mayor Goodman this town and state would be alot futher along during this recession.
I heard the Milwaukee Bucks might be available to the highest bidder soon.
They need a new arena there I guess and the taxpayers are saying "no way".
"The Las Vegas Bucks"
How's that sound?
With the ablities of this town to draw people and conventions here the new stadium would not have a problem drawing events and would pay for itself alot quicker than other facilities across the Nation.I just think that it needs to be larger.To draw the larger events.Mayor Goodman is trying to spend taxdollars that will be returned very quickly.As events come hotel rooms get used food is bought money is spent and it will draw people from all over the country to come to Vegas and spend money.Look at the big picture it will generate a ton of income and taaxable dollars which will pay for it.Then when it is paid for you take the profits and supplement the schools and other projects that the city needs.Plus it will boost jobs not only the Arena but all over this town.We need to quit relying on corperate dummies to energiz this town.
Go for it Vegas.The only thing I suggest is that you look at The Pyrimid In Memphis and use it as a modle for not what to do.The Pyrimid in memphis is now closed because they were scared to do it right to begin with.Mayor Goodman just make sure that you and the council build an arena that will draw all events not just Basketball and Hockey.Build an arena that will be the pride of Las Vegas and the country.It will work in this town if it is done right.
I reiterate This town needs this and needs it badly.
Sorry, Las Vegas market too small to draw any interest in any sports franchise. People here just don't care about it and take advantage of it if they did have it. Gave the expansion teams to some more deserving city out there.
As for the comment about Memphis having population of 600K compared to Vegas 1mil, that is false and untrue. Vegas city population is 552,000 which would make it a smaller market than Memphis. Also take into account that with Clark County total 1.5 mil pop, your still undersized compared to Memphis and its suburbs and surrounding cities. Memphis has suburbs and other close cities to draw attendance for their games. Here in Vegas, you have no suburbs, only this city. Where are the other people gonna come from, the mountains, Pahrump?? ha ha, not gonna happen
^^^^^*vegassucs*
Clark County has nearly two million people in it. Im sure thats large enough to suppourt a pro team.
WOW, NO MARTINI!!!
Clark County has 2 million people and yet you are still not the Top 20 in population- :)
Still, too small of a market- out of those 2 million people, how many actually have jobs, make money that they can use to go to the games. It seems that no one supports their local college team, why would they support Pro sports when it coast more money to go to the games. Logic presents itself .
Better idea would be to lure some company to Las Vegas that actually makes something and will put some of your people to work and build a big factory for them instead of arena.
The NBA is dying. Not that many people are even interested in it anymore. Mostly inner city kids and adults.
Personally, I can't watch more than 5 minutes of an NBA game without getting completely bored.
And I have an NBA franchise about 10 minutes from me. Haven't gone to a game in probably a decade.
Oh, my dear little stevem: Has this town ever hosted a major-league franchise? No. Therefore, Vegas would see unprecedented revenue streams from its inclusion.
I've got your moron right here in my back pocket, jackass.
I've seen many people on this site call "SteveM" a moron.
Just saying. :)
Your not very familiar with professional sports there Gray, are you. How will Las Vegas benefit? How will Las Vegas make money. The owners and the player of the organization benefit from this, not you and I. I'm sorry, but people don't fly into Las Vegas to see an expansion team play when they can go to their bigger city and see an established team with credibility play. So, I have to disagree with you.
Besides, its the locals that would come to the games and I'm afraid they are not gonna shell out a couple hundred bucks for a room when they can drive 15 minutes in each direction back to their homes. So,you thought if maybe the hotels prospering from this would not work.
Go Oscar!
Pro sports is simply entertainment, LV's sole raison d'etre. Update T&M stadium to NBA standards and build an open air football/soccer stadium in that blighted area between the Strip & downtown; run a rail mass transit line between to the two, connected to both stadiums and the airport. UNLV will use both (as a taxpayer funded institution, it needn't be given a choice), as well as whatever other events can be lured here. Then try to lure some pro teams here (Clippers & Raiders are obvious targets, especially as there is no pro football team in LA).
Lets lure 2 of the most pathetic franchises here, Clippers and Raiders, now thats an idea. Has the Los Angeles influence not already done a horrible number on this town already. The little evil red head step child of L.A- when will we learn?
although, having the Raiders would be a huge success here with all the gang-bangers in town.
Another ego driven Jew talking out of his ass. Hey lets make a stadium and new city hall as we cut staff because we don't have enough money for the police and fire depts.
vegassucs(not a fan I see),
Okay, maybe the Clippers & Raiders aren't our first choice -- Bucks, Jets, gotta be some teams looking for a new home in the coming years. But LA "influence"? Like it or not, this place is LA -- only with more open gambling, strippers & hookers.
And while we could use fewer thugs on the streets, I don't think trying to turn LV into Provo will do much for us. Thugs & gangs are a widespread problem, and until society as a whole cracks down, they will continue to proliferate. If anything, the increased economic activity associated with O's proposal should help combat gang activity by reducing the desperate economic conditions they seem to thrive in (though busting a few heads and not coddling them always helps).
The building of the Brain Center across from the ever "busy" World Market center is now making more sense than ever.
Maybe Oscar can get a good spot inline when they start handing out brains.
Ya know, what Las Vegas needs is a big fat magnet to draw the gangbangers from LA out here 35 times a year!
I'm dying for any pro franchise here. I would buy season seats for any pro team here in any sport.
Keep plugging away Mayor Goodman.
Does anybody remember Las Vegas Posse, Outlaws, Americans ( indoor soccer ) Silverstreaks (basketball), Thunder? anybody,,,,, In the 80's at the old Showboat there was pro wrestling and it was always packed. But as far a major league team, it won't work here, see the above.
There must be something terribly wrong with me today. Once again I find myself in agreement with Patrick_Gibbons!! What is wrong with me?
Perhaps another writer has disguised himself as Gibbons.
Professional as in basketball or hockey won't be coming to Las Vegas for many more years.
Switch your gin company Mayor
The "Build it and they will come mentality' has to cease, and Las Vegas sure as heck does not need any more hotel rooms to cannibalize what now exists. Every tax payer buck needs to go into a "cost-benefit" project that will diversify our economy and increase the attractiveness for the working and middle class. We want to have communities, no, we need to have communities!
I agree that Vegas needs a Pro Team. However building a small basketball stadium will do nothing for our economy. A football / whatever makes sense. Look at the money that the conventions bring in. A pro football / whatever team would bring in way more than that. So we as taxpayers have to front some of the cash imagine the income and jobs that would be produced.
No, I'm not sucs, and that's because I was born and raised here. I'd rather blow money on the pro experience rather than losing it on the tables. And, suffice it to say, lots of people feel the way I do. That equals $$$$$$$
NLV - that would be a god-send for the Raiders to come here..my team in my home town. Wow. And guess what? No matter how bad they play the following and loyalty of their fans are second-to-none. To you haters -- look at all the Raider decals and trailer hitch covers you see on US95 next time you drive down it and you'll see what we're talking about.
tourists will not go to pro sorts events in Vegas with the exception of boxing. The locals will not support a team either. Oscar just wants to build something so he can steal some money.
Isn't this state already cutting money from every budget out there? Where will we get another 100 - 500 mil without negatively affecting our already piss poor school district? Does anyone remember the Posse, Silver Streaks, Outlaws, Gladiators, Thunder, Americans, and probably a handful of other teams I can't recall? I'm not saying it can't be done but I just don't see how this will be any different from any of the other pro teams that have ALL failed miserably here. Everyone in Vegas supports teams from somewhere else anyway. Sounds like a way for fat cats to scratch each others backs and get sweetheart deals and kickbacks on our dime.
phargo is right. these "build it and they will come" arena scams are nothing more than a way for politicians and construction companies to make money off "trained seal" sports fans. clapping away in ignorance to get a fish.
you're only calling me a moron because you can't provide any factual evidence to support YOUR stupid statements, so you retreat to 8th grade name calling.
vegas doesn't NEED a pro sports team or we would have one by now. period. if we couldn't get enough momentum going in the boom years to get one...how in the world could we NEED one now?
we NEED hospitals and grocery stores...so we have them.
do we NEED a bobsled track in vegas?
no, we don't, so we don't have one.
so...i'm the moron?
not really.
if you think a tourist is going to come here and go to a basketball game...unless there's the odd chance THEIR home team is playing the las vegas team...you're exactly the kind of sucker that the politicians pitch these things to.
i do agree PARTIALLY that a soccer stadium COULD work because we could host soccer matches that have a much broader appeal than stupid basketball.
soccer appeals to just about everyone in mexico, central and south america and most of europe.
people from england or france WOULD come here to see their team play mexico or brazil. they would not come here to see the miami heat play the las vegas valets.
If "vegassucs", what are you doing on here, loser?
And sufferin, I agree with you. UNLV should be playing in it's own arena.
and comparing spithole memphis to las vegas, please are you serious? don't let the door hit you in your brains on the way out.
fix the streets oscar put down the martini glass
breath some air and quit exhaling that build-it and they will come routing it's as old as you
if you wanna build something go build a garden at the wild house with bumama
One other event to consider for a football stadium -- the Pro Bowl.
Hawaii is unwilling to build a new stadium, so the game is in Miami this year. Las Vegas could certainly get into the Pro Bowl mix. Las Vegas could easily become the permanent host once the event is an overwhelming success -- as it no doubt would be.
lol...i know i'd MUCH rather come to las vegas instead of hawaii. not.
Whats in the box, I guess its not a good education. Sorry, I can compare Vegas to Memphis, your city has no prestige anymore and has a worse economic structure than a city like Memphis. I'm not even from Memphis but last time I checked, they had a better education, healthcare, lower Unemployment, so- next time, open up the box and use that 20 dollar UNLV education, moron.
I've lived in Memphis for several years. And that city sucks. can you say scum buckets everywhere. That city should just be shut down. Other than a FedEx hub the city is worthless and full of bums.
Las Vegas (Clark County) is a mushroom community-it has size but no roots. Turn this downturn into a positive; build better roads, gain long term water access, stabilize the schools and establish a realistic tax base. T&M needs a realistic $150 million makeover and Sam Boyd needs $50 million. These would be effective investements in Las Vegas that would support the real sports fan base. I think the 21st century opportunity for Las Vegas is to place itself as a city that is forward moving wile not being a sports town. Not every city is a sports town; just as not every city is a culture town. I'm a huge sports fan, so it pains me to write this.
P.S. MIlwaukee Bucks owner U.S. Senator Herb Kohn (D. Wisconsin) has zero intention of moving the team out of state. The City knows it and is playing hardball because they can.
Kick the football oscar, Lucy won't pull it away at the last minute, honest...
Wow, how does Goodman remain mayor with all the negative opinions of his actions...oh yes, those here who complain make up the miniscule opposition to his seat. Don't agree: look up his election wins. Apparently the people of Las Vegas DO support his opinion, and have done so without the use of Lance Burton to blow smoke up the public's butt. Does Vegas need a sports team: Not necessarily? Would it be a boon to the city: probably. Thankfully the minority on this site who complain have less than 20% of a voice...based on the last election results.
NHL, please come...