Issues With Major League Sports
The most prominent issue is the perceived problem of legal sports betting. All four major professional sports leagues have strong anti-gambling policies, prohibiting their personnel from having any involvement in gambling. The NFL has taken the toughest stance, even refusing to accept Las Vegas tourism advertising for Super Bowl telecasts and threatening to file suit against any local hotels holding Super Bowl parties. In recent years hotels have gotten around the legal threat by referring to the Super Bowl as "The Big Game" rather than its actual name in advertising.
Some potential owners believe a professional sports franchise would have difficulty gaining an audience, given Las Vegas' numerous entertainment options. Las Vegas also has a high percentage of residents working in 24-hour occupations, many of whom work nights and weekends when most games would be played. These issues are not seen as problems by everyone in professional sports, however. Miami Marlins owner Jeffrey Loria described Las Vegas as "a potential gold mine" for a professional sports team owner. Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban has also been quoted as saying that Las Vegas would be a good professional sports town.
A huge obstacle is the lack of suitable facilities. Cashman Field, Sam Boyd Stadium, the Thomas & Mack Center, MGM Grand Garden Arena, and Mandalay Bay Events Center are all inadequate to host a professional sports franchise due to capacity, age or design. Harrah's Entertainment and the Anschutz Entertainment Group committed to building a new arena on a parcel of land behind Harrah's Paris and Bally's off the Strip, to be built to NHL and NBA standards. The arena was expected to open in the fall of 2010, but construction has not begun. Harrah's Entertainment CEO Gary Loveman said in a June, 2009 article in Las Vegas Business Press that his company is still committed to building the arena, but it has been delayed by a lack of financing. He said that the arena will probably be completed in 2012 or 2013. There have been no announced plans to replace Sam Boyd Stadium or Cashman Field. On April 6, 2010 the Las Vegas Review-Journal reported that three proposals have been made to build an arena of approximately 20,000 seats on or near the Strip to host professional basketball and hockey, rodeo, concerts and other events. All three proposals called for public money to be used for a portion of the construction cost. Given the city's economic problems at the time of the proposals, it remains to be seen what can be worked out regarding funding.
For years Las Vegas has depended upon UNLV and Strip hotels to provide venues for sporting events. This approach has brought downsides with it. The first indication of trouble occurred in 1999, when UNLV officials refused to discuss a new agreement with the owners of the Las Vegas Thunder of the International Hockey League to play at the Thomas & Mack Center. Hotels with facilities suitable for the Thunder would not commit to an entire hockey season, as this would have seriously restricted the dates available for concerts and other events. This left the Thunder without a place to play. The team was disbanded, and the city lost hockey for four years. Only the opening of a new arena (considerably smaller than the Thomas & Mack) at the off-Strip Orleans Hotel allowed for the return of hockey with the Las Vegas Wranglers of the ECHL. The ECHL is considered two steps below the NHL, or the equivalent of the 'AA' level in minor league baseball. The Thunder was one step above that.
The lack of a baseball park that could be quickly reconfigured for major league baseball cost the city any chance of landing the relocating Montreal Expos in 2004. Since Cashman Field (the only sports facility the city owns) opened in 1988, all but three other cities in AAA baseball (Pawtucket, Tacoma and Portland) have opened new ballparks. Little has been done to improve Cashman since it opened. Because it lags so far behind most other facilities in AAA baseball there is also a danger that Las Vegas will lose its place in minor league baseball's top tier (which happened to Portland after the 2010 season, after plans for a new park fell through). Dissatisfaction with the facilities, along with the total lack of a plan to improve the situation, was cited as a major reason the Los Angeles Dodgers did not renew their working agreement with the Las Vegas 51s after it expired in 2008. The Dodgers resumed what had been a long-term affiliation with Albuquerque, where a new ballpark opened in 2003.
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