Sun Archives
- Mayor not playing favorites on competing Las Vegas arena projects (2-10-11)
- Proposal emerges to build three-stadium complex in downtown Las Vegas (2-8-11)
- Goodman: Proposed UNLV arena project could face difficulty (2-3-11)
- UNLV athletic department sees on-campus stadium as a game-changer (2-1-11)
- Developers put early plans for UNLV stadium, retail district on display (2-1-11)
- Regents to hear UNLV arena plan for football, basketball (1-31-11)
- Mayor: UNLV domed stadium wouldn’t conflict with a downtown Las Vegas arena (1-27-2011)
- Report: UNLV domed stadium plans will be unveiled Tuesday (1-27-2011)
- Goodman: Arena project a key issue for next Las Vegas mayor (1-20-2011)
- UNLV acknowledges effort to bring stadium, football to campus (1-19-2011)
- Mayor: Sports arena ballot petition 'irrelevant' to city arena efforts (11-18-2010)
- Symphony Park targeted for sports arena (11-12-2010)
- Mayor: American League team says no to Las Vegas (8-26-2010)
- Mayor: Without public funding for arena, Las Vegas won't get NBA team (7-22-2010)
Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman today said Major League Soccer could be a good fit for a proposed stadium in the city if an NBA franchise doesn't work out.
Competing stadium proposals in the Las Vegas Valley are itching to lure a pro basketball team. Goodman said although basketball is “probably the best fit” for Las Vegas, the city could look at other options, he added.
"When I’m not the mayor anymore, I may very well explore Major League Soccer because I believe we have the ideal demographic here, socioeconomically, to have a very successful Major League Soccer team," the mayor said today during his weekly news conference.
Goodman cited Las Vegas’ large Hispanic population and the sport’s growing popularity among youth as reasons soccer could succeed in Southern Nevada.
“(Soccer) is becoming a very important sport so I think that will be a natural here,” he said. “I think you can make it into a great real estate play if you took the time to put the right groups together.”
Goodman on Thursday also discussed a service-sharing proposal between Las Vegas and North Las Vegas, calling it a “great, positive thing for the community.”
The pronouncement comes at the heels of a joint city council meeting Wednesday night in which city officials discussed a government efficiency study that found seven areas where sharing services could save both cities up to $5.6 million.
The city of Las Vegas, which faces a $12 million budget deficit, might benefit from service sharing, but should be wary of consolidating services, Goodman said.
“Basically, I characterize it as a study into strategic alliances,” he said. “That way, we get it away from the c-word of consolidation and whatever emotions that evokes.
“Each jurisdiction has to protect its own constituents,” he continued. “The bottom line is, it has to be a win-win for everybody or it never takes place.”
The seven areas where services could be shared include federal legislative services, citywide training, animal control and dog licensing, street sweeping, business licensing and work-card system, emergency services dispatching and golf course operations.
Council members at Wednesday’s meeting also urged city officials to consider information technology and fire inspections as two other cost-sharing areas.
“It’s not going to happen tomorrow, that’s for sure,” Goodman said of the service-sharing proposal. “We’re not doing it for this reason, but I think we will be able to show the legislature that we are trying to work out our problems down here.”
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