BREAKING NEWS: Mayor Says Las Vegas to Land NBA Team
Oscar Goodman, Mayor: "I Wouldn't Say that Lightly"
As Las Vegas prepares for the Miss America Pageant this weekend, Goodman told sources he is now willing to bet, that as his city gears up for the NBA All-Star game later in February, that Las Vegas will be chosen sooner rather than later to have an NBA franchise.
In his State of the City address, Mayor Oscar Goodman revealed that plans are going forward for Las Vegas to land its first major-league sports franchise.
"I wouldn't say that lightly," he told Business Las Vegas after his address, adding that "a special announcement [to make] before the spring [that] will take us to an entirely new level when we begin these earnest negotiations."
But it may not happen while NBA commissioner David Stern is in office, in part to concerns of betting on NBA games, a practice that local casinos aren't likely to abandon anytime soon.
Goodman also told Luxe Life that "...first we've got the land then the arena has to follow...That's a two-year process but a Vegas team could be playing three years from now."
But don't count out the National Hockey League, either.
The arena would be built, according to Goodman, on 12 acres near City Hall that is owned by the city itself. What would be necessary, added Goodman, would be that the area be a mixed-use area and not necessarily be just a basketball arena.
Such a term would be considered "liberal," he told Business Las Vegas. What those words mean is that the arena, if it were considered for mixed-use, may include plans for commercial properties, such as shopping districts and restaurants.
The ownership group for the as-yet-unannounced NBA team, according to Luxe Life, could be headed by Greg Anthony, former UNLV star, NBA veteran and current ESPN NBA analyst. Anthony's group would try to pony up the $350 million needed for an NBA franchise to relocate to Sin City. The Memphis Grizzlies, a team currently for sale, may be such an option.
At any rate, it should be an interesting month as Las Vegas prepares to make the transition to a major-league sports city.
Published by B.J. Crock
J-school grad, teacher and soccer coach who is a widely published sportswriter and reporter. Currently I am a professional blogger for sites Reality TV Circus and American Idle. View profile
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