Read the entire column here on the Las Vegas Review-Journal website

JOE HAWK: Big league race to get to LV first might be on

By Joe Hawk
The Las Vegas Review-Journal

With the Florida Marlins receiving the blessing of Major League Baseball to explore the possibility of relocation -- quite possibly to the ever-growing, untapped market that is our city -- a new question arises for local minds to ponder:

Could there be a footrace between MLB and other "major league" sports to be the first to land in Las Vegas?

It was a concept I hadn't considered until asked about it Thanksgiving Day during an interview on a Toronto sports radio talk show.

The question was posed because sources at the Canadian station had confirmed that NHL commissioner Gary Bettman had been in Las Vegas last week -- that is, for what was termed by a league representative as a "vacation."

"Riiiiiight!" show host Bob "Bobcat" McCown, a former Las Vegas resident, all but screamed. Suffice it to say he was highly skeptical that Bettman had come here to spend a few days dining at Wynn or sunning himself at the Bellagio pool.

McCown believed Bettman was in Las Vegas to speak with Mayor Oscar Goodman about the possibility of relocating one of his league's troubled franchises. A spokesperson for the mayor, however, says there has been no recent contact with Bettman.

Even if there hasn't been, with word that Marlins owner Jeffrey Loria will be looking at Las Vegas as a new home following failed negotiations for a retractable roof stadium in Miami, I have to wonder if our city soon will have several suitors seeking our hand.

That's because, to put a twist on an old adage, "First come, only served."

At best, Las Vegas might be able to support one major league-level sport. (Personally, I don't believe laid-back baseball, requiring an average minimum of 20,000 fans per game for 81 home dates, is the optimal choice. My pick would be the up-tempo NBA, whose 41-game home attendance would be bolstered by casino high rollers looking for a different type of glitz.)

If "First come, only served" is indeed the case, might not that light a fire under Bettman -- and, dare we suggest, even NBA commissioner David Stern -- to try to beat Loria and MLB commissioner Bud Selig to the Las Vegas finish line?

Sure, Stern repeatedly has said he has no immediate plans to relocate any franchises or to expand the league. He is adamantly against Nevada's legal sports wagering, though he did sign off on the 2007 NBA All-Star Game -- to be played at the Thomas & Mack Center -- with the consideration of no betting action.

Bettman, however, has been more receptive to the idea of the NHL having a franchise here. He told Goodman in past meetings that as far as the betting issue is concerned, he would consider a simple ban on the games played by the Las Vegas team as well as all Stanley Cup futures wagering.

Definitely not much for local sports books to concede for the city to get a franchise.

Meanwhile, there has been no substantive discussion, as far as I know, as to what would be done regarding MLB's anti-sports betting stance should the Marlins desire to move here. Remove just their games from the boards? All MLB games?

That is one of the first issues to be resolved before Loria can think about placing his sizable order with U-Haul -- if, in fact, it comes to that. (The Marlins owner says it is his first choice to keep the team in South Florida. Frankly, I wouldn't be surprised if this last-minute posturing doesn't result in some last-second politicking that gets him the stadium deal he seeks.)

While Loria has stepped forward to show an interest in moving a franchise to Las Vegas, he apparently isn't the only owner of a major sports team with that thinking.

The Maloof brothers, who own the Palms as well as the NBA's Sacramento Kings, are rumored to be interested in bringing an NHL team here. And John Moores, owner of the San Diego Padres baseball team, once discussed with Goodman and Bettman the possibility of bringing the club to Las Vegas.

Now maybe Bettman's visit here last week was just a "vacation." Or maybe he was looking into bringing back the NHL owners' meetings, which were in Las Vegas in 2004.

But maybe, just maybe, he was thinking, "First come, only served."

You have to wonder.

Joe Hawk's column appears Sunday, Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. He can be reached at 387-2912 or jhawk@reviewjournal.com.

I've wondered this aloud here about Portland as others have too that owners in the "other" major leagues could be in a "first come, first serve" rush to Stumptown. Right now, we can handle a team in the Spring, Summer, or Fall. Even a NHL team would make it if they can get a good deal at the Rose Garden. The question for a team in LV is which league is interested in expansion because an owner moving to LV isn't clearly understood to me.

I'm looking at baseball seeing Portland as the prime relo candidate with LV as the brides maid for at least one decade. Once we start seeing PSU and WSU-Vancouver grow to the point of wanting to tap into Portland for football and soccer games, then the NFL will also talk about us. We will need to hit the magic 3 million mark also (if we have two teams).

The prediction for 3.5 million are in the twenty year timeframe. My feeling is that the population predictions are low again and we will hit 3.5 million in fifteen years maximum.

Portland is much more than a one trick pony, compared to LV. What happens to LV when oil costs continue to rise? No one is saying it directly but airline ticket prices have no where to go but up when jet fuel costs are going up year after year. Do you think LV is planning for the production peak of oil? Not! Oregon is already talking about including issues like "peak oil" and "global warming" into it's major policy document for transportation (2006 Oregon Transportation Plan will be discussed in public on Monday) for the next twenty five years. It is looked at every few years to see if it needs an update.

What happens when water access becomes an issue? Oh, right. It already is an issue in LV.

BB

But Vegas is all glitzy and "star struck"!!

quote:

Portland is much more than a one trick pony, compared to LV. What happens to LV when oil costs continue to rise? No one is saying it directly but airline ticket prices have no where to go but up when jet fuel costs are going up year after year.

Water is the more pressing matter.

Just as there is a race for placement of a "big 4" franchise in vegas...there will be somewhat of a race between NHL & MLB to be PDX's 2nd.

As of now..I do not think our market can support all 3.

Yep, water (and land) are bigger issues in Vegas than oil.

Wired magazine had a couple of good articles this month on the subject of oil. The bottom line is that when oil prices are higher, other alternatives arise (tar sands, oil shale, coal-to-oil, etc. etc.) that will make "peak oil" worries irrelevant. We might drive less and use alternative transit more, but I highly doubt that air travel will grind to a halt. And as a side benefit, we won't have to rely on politically unstable countries to get it. Viva (flying to) Las Vegas!


http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/13.12/gas.html

http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/13.12/energy.html

The story behind "peak oil" is not the end of the oil industry. It's the end of "cheap oil". Tar Sands, oil shale, coal to oil, etc. are going to cost more then just finding the pressurized petroleum deposits and drilling down to them.

And what about the environmental damage done to the watersheds when you remove all the mountain tops and create new mountains of tailings?

Peak Oil is about the costs required to generate and purchase a resource that isn't as cheap to produce. What is the consequences of this reality? Higher fuel costs basically. What is one of the airlines biggest issues right now? Each bankruptcy in the past few years mentions higher fuel costs. And didn't we just bail out the airlines with $10 Billion dollars right after 9-11.

Las Vegas is more of an island then Portland. Once Peak Oil is past and cheap oil is history, LV will not be seeing 100,000 tourists every day (that number is amazing).

Peak Oil is real guys. In the last week or two, Kuwait announced their largest oil field was past peak production (2nd largest in the world) and the Saudis' have already said that 2015 is their estimation when demand will not be met.

Peak Oil is one reason I'm going to the Columbia River Crossing meetings. Oregon needs to move into the 21st Century (high speed rail, light rail, battery technology innovation is now coming out of Asia folks) and get some of those jobs. 20th Century technology is ancient history people. GM is twenty five years behind the Asia and Europe car manufacturers and the papers say its the workers fault. Everyone needs to get their heads out of the sand and face the music. Cheap oil is no more.

BB

Boomer - I'll PM you regarding my theories on Vegas and Peak Oil (and then you can enlighten me on why my theories are totally whacked... ).

I think we can at least agree that oil and water issues will not affect any relocation decision (between Portland versus Vegas) in the next 3 to 5 years.

I love that a debate over whether Las Vegas is a better market for MLB than Portland turned into an argument about third world oil production, asian economics and the global effects of environmentalism. Gotta love PDX!

...and I invite you to start a BBQ thread on the topic and have at it. I'm curious to know if the Saudi 2015 prediction is too optimistic.

And here's a piece in yesterday's LV Sun on the issues to overcome in bringing MLB/major league sports to the Southern Nevada desert...

http://www.lasvegassun.com/sunbin/stories/commentary/20...ec/02/519755692.html

The column from yesterday's LV Sun also mentions PDX in a favorable light (though I don't see how PDX is 'working overtime' in its quest for the Marlins, as much as I'd love to believe that)...the columnist might think twice about questioning Goodman, though...he may wake up one morning w/a horse's appendage!

That was the best article I have seen that outlines the some of the real weaknesses that Vegas needs to overcome. And it came from the LV Sun which is surprising to me.

I'll post it in another thread. (hat tip to James)

quote:

Originally posted by James Stock:
The column from yesterday's LV Sun also mentions PDX in a favorable light (though I don't see how PDX is 'working overtime' in its quest for the Marlins, as much as I'd love to believe that)...the columnist might think twice about questioning Goodman, though...he may wake up one morning w/a horse's appendage!

Yes gotta love PDX only here as you say can baseball talk morph into economic issues concerning world fuel production That said I think Vegas is far better suited to NBA than any of the other sports just as MLB and MLS fit best in PDX.