Tim Dongahy's charges ruined chances of Vegas getting a pro team?...Not really.

[Now_Im_Not_Banned]

Roll of the dice-
Harrah's to build Las Vegas arena to attract NBA, NHL

Posted: Wednesday August 22, 2007 8:36PM

LAS VEGAS (AP) -- Casino giant Harrah's Entertainment Inc. announced Wednesday that it will partner with AEG, the company that brought David Beckham to the Los Angeles Galaxy, to build a 20,000-seat arena in Las Vegas capable of housing an NBA or NHL team.

The $500 million arena, behind the Bally's and Paris hotel-casinos on the Las Vegas Strip, is projected to open in 2010. It's a step toward attracting a pro sports franchise to a city that has tried to persuade reluctant league officials to look past its legalized sports betting.
 
The deal puts a dent in Mayor Oscar Goodman's plans to have an arena built downtown with the help of tax breaks, but he said such plans would go forward. The site for the Harrah's-AEG arena, a block east of the Strip, is in unincorporated Clark County, outside city limits.

Gary Loveman, the chief executive of Harrah's, which is being bought by two private equity firms in a $17.1 billion deal, said the development was "very much a part of our master plan for Las Vegas."

Harrah's has yet to fully detail its long-awaited vision to link or redevelop its nine hotel-casino properties in Las Vegas, including Caesars Palace, Flamingo, Harrah's and Bally's, which are near the same intersection.

"It's our ambition to create a place that transcends a series of hotels," Loveman said. "The presence of a state-of-the-art events center of this size provides a reason for people all around us on the Strip to come into our neighborhood."

AEG, a subsidiary of Denver billionaire and Qwest Communications founder Philip Anschutz's Anschutz Co., owns the Galaxy and the Staples Center in Los Angeles and has booked such acts as Celine Dion and Bette Midler at Caesars Palace. It said it was in talks with professional leagues and potential team owners about bringing hockey or basketball to Las Vegas.

"It just so happens 2010 is an opportune time for an expansion team in Vegas for either or both (leagues)," said Timothy Leiweke, president and chief executive of AEG.

NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly said the arena announcement "positively impacts the prospects of Las Vegas attracting a major-league franchise" but said there was "nothing new to report" regarding league expansion or the NHL's intentions about a team in Las Vegas.

"That is a matter our Board of Governors would have to consider at an appropriate time," he said in a statement.

The NBA, which has appointed a committee to study a proposal by Goodman to locate a franchise in Las Vegas, postponed meetings after the league was rocked by a betting scandal involving one of its referees. The city hosted the NBA All-Star game in February, but commissioner David Stern said the league was not likely to return without a modern arena.

A key factor in the decision for AEG to build on the Harrah's site was the "200,000 hotel rooms within walking distance," Leiweke said. "I don't know any place else like it on the face of the Earth."

An annual preseason game between the Los Angeles Kings and the Colorado Avalanche in Las Vegas usually sells out, and there was good support for the Las Vegas Wranglers minor league hockey team, he said.

Even without a sports franchise, the arena will be financially viable by hosting concerts, boxing matches and other events, and the likely sale of naming rights, he said. In a recent deal, AEG sold such rights to what is now the O2 Arena in London to the U.K. cellular phone company for $12 million a year, he said.

Until now, events such as big boxing matches, mixed martial arts fights and concerts have largely been held at the aging Thomas & Mack Center on the UNLV campus or at Strip properties owned by MGM Mirage Inc., at the MGM Grand Garden Arena or Mandalay Bay Events Center.

MGM Mirage spokesman Alan Feldman said the company welcomed the competition.

"The people that come for concerts and conventions, we're confident they'll visit more than one place on the Strip and we're confident they'll visit at least one of ours," he said. "Anytime anyone adds value to the Strip, that's a good thing."

Goodman said the deal does not slow down city plans for a proposed $9.5 billion sports arena with casino, retail and residential uses on 85 acres downtown, put forth by Michigan-based REI Group LLC.

Any team that wants to locate in Las Vegas could now shop between two large venues for a home, he said.

"With the competition, they're going to be able to get a better deal," Goodman said. "So it's a win-win."

Jon Weaver, the president of REI, criticized the Harrah's-AEG plan because it would rely on Strip tourists for its fan base. He said the downtown site was geared more to residents.

"I think it would be very discouraging have an arena to be filled by folks from out of town wanting to see their home team play in Las Vegas," he said. "I don't think that would be a very successful model."




this helps Kansas City as well...



AEG building arena in Las Vegas for a pro team

By RANDY COVITZ
The Kansas City Star

The Anschutz Entertainment Group, which is managing the new Sprint Center, announced Wednesday that it is partnering with Harrah’s Entertainment to build a 20,000-seat arena in Las Vegas.

That could be good news or bad news for Kansas City. The good news is movie and television producer Jerry Bruckheimer, a friend of AEG president Tim Leiweke, has been in discussions with the NHL about owning an NHL franchise in Las Vegas, so that could give Kansas City a partner in a future expansion.

The bad news is Las Vegas could be a competitor with Kansas City for an expansion or relocated team in the NHL or NBA.

The 20,000-seat arena, behind Bally’s and Paris hotel-casinos just off the Las Vegas strip will cost about $400 million and will be financed by AEG. The arena is projected to open in 2010. Construction is set to begin in the summer of 2008.

A statement by Leiweke sounded hauntingly familiar to Kansas City sports fans hoping for an NHL or NBA team as an anchor tenant at Sprint Center, scheduled to open in October.

“This arena is being developed with the capability of hosting an NHL or NBA franchise from day one,” Leiweke said. “We continue to have productive conversations with potential owners and are optimistic that either basketball or hockey, or both, will be played in Las Vegas when the venue opens.

“It just so happens 2010 is an opportune time for an expansion team in Vegas for either or both (leagues).”

NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly said the arena announcement “positively impacts the prospects of Las Vegas attracting a major-league franchise” but said there was “nothing new to report” regarding league expansion or the NHL’s intentions about a team in Las Vegas.

The NBA, which has appointed a committee to study a proposal by Goodman to locate a franchise in Las Vegas, postponed meetings after the league was rocked by a betting scandal involving one of its referees. The city was host to the NBA All-Star Game in February.

[R-Tistic]

I've never quite understood it....why wouldn't the NBA want a team to play in Vegas, just because gambling is legal? Do they think the team will automatically be part of the gambling scene, or that the players will just be too close for comfort to the whole gambling scene there?

[Sparegeez]

I've never quite understood it....why wouldn't the NBA want a team to play in Vegas, just because gambling is legal? Do they think the team will automatically be part of the gambling scene, or that the players will just be too close for comfort to the whole gambling scene there?

Because the city has a huge population and seats would always be sold out.

[Now_Im_Not_Banned]

^^He's saying why WOULDN'T they want it...And he's right. There's no reason not to want an NBA team in Vegas.

[d-nice]

I've never quite understood it....why wouldn't the NBA want a team to play in Vegas, just because gambling is legal? Do they think the team will automatically be part of the gambling scene, or that the players will just be too close for comfort to the whole gambling scene there?

Because the city has a huge population and seats would always be sold out.

Vegas is really not that big. And the jury is still out if we would support a pro team out here. If not, they could bus tourists to the games all day every day.

[Lunatic]

My concern about putting an NBA/NHL team in Vegas is, can they sell out games? I know Vegas is a HUGE tourist spot, and personally If I decide 2 vacation 2 Vegas, I am NOT going 2 watch an NBA/NHL game...and I LOVE both sports, but I can do that right here in Toronto

And like someone said, the teams players might be a little 2 close 2 gambling hot spots than owners/coaches would like them to be...How many players would miss curfew, skip practice in the morning and so on??

[Sparegeez]

^^He's saying why WOULDN'T they want it...And he's right. There's no reason not to want an NBA team in Vegas.

That's my bad. I misread what he said.

[Vegasmac25]

I truely belive that Vegas can sell out there games because its the local people that are tired of doing the same shit and going to the same places.With a pro-team families can actually do something together and it underage kids can actually go doing something.

[Now_Im_Not_Banned]

My concern about putting an NBA/NHL team in Vegas is, can they sell out games? I know Vegas is a HUGE tourist spot, and personally If I decide 2 vacation 2 Vegas, I am NOT going 2 watch an NBA/NHL game...and I LOVE both sports, but I can do that right here in Toronto

And like someone said, the teams players might be a little 2 close 2 gambling hot spots than owners/coaches would like them to be...How many players would miss curfew, skip practice in the morning and so on??

LOL@seats not selling out in Vegas.

[jeromechickenbone]

Kansas City? Absolutely.  Sprint Center is dope, and KC is a real cosmopolitan city.  I'm tellin you, Vegas ain't happenin, at least for the NBA.

[MontrealCity's Most]

There thiing about a Nhl team as well.

Where ever there is money they will go.

On the sport side of things the Vegas team i think will have a big advantage because teams coming in will wana go party.

[Don Jacob]

i think the only drawback to having a team in vegas is worrying about the players fucking their money away and staying out and getting shit faced. but Vegas is a city of 1 million residents i think they'd benefit from haveing a team. and i don't think they'd need a team RIGHT ON THE STRIP , do what the cowboys do and have the team in a neighboring city.

[R-Tistic]

i think the only drawback to having a team in vegas is worrying about the players fucking their money away and staying out and getting shit faced. but Vegas is a city of 1 million residents i think they'd benefit from haveing a team. and i don't think they'd need a team RIGHT ON THE STRIP , do what the cowboys do and have the team in a neighboring city.

That's real...they could have it a bit outside of Vegas. It is way too much space out there, even though it's a lot more developed than it was the first time I went 17 years ago.