By Joe Capozzi

 

Palm Beach Post Staff Writer

 

Sunday, May 08, 2005

 

LAS VEGAS ? On a cool December morning, three Florida Marlins officials stepped out of a taxi on Las Vegas Boulevard across from the mock Statue of Liberty at New York New York and a replica Eiffel Tower.

 

Strolling under the head of comedian Carrot Top, whose blinking image leaped from a Jumbotron marquee, they entered the MGM Grand. Making their way through a ringing maze of slot machines, they passed blackjack tables, roulette wheels and two lions inside a glass den until they found casino executive Alan Feldman's office.

 

There, in a quiet second-floor refuge, they talked baseball ? specifically, the odds of bringing the Marlins or any other Major League Baseball team to Las Vegas.

 

More than five months after that visit, the prospect of the Marlins playing in Las Vegas is a long shot ? even in light of the Florida Legislature's failure Friday to provide the final chunk of money for a new ballpark in Miami.

 

And if the Marlins' visit had a purpose, the team officials probably didn't like what they heard.

 

"If there was any interest on their part in using this as a negotiating issue, it probably got pretty well wiped out after their meeting with me," said Feldman, vice president of public affairs for MGM Mirage, the largest employer, landowner and taxpayer in Clark County, Nevada.

 

"The discussion I had with them, which was very frank and very candid, was this: Anyone who wants to build a professional sports team is more than welcome in Las Vegas. We'd love to see it. But we will stand in the street and stop any semblance of tax support for a stadium.

 

"In this market, companies like ours invest hundreds of millions of dollars a year in new attractions and new things to bring guests to town. The thought that our city would be put into the position of investing hundreds of millions of dollars in taxpayer money to build an attraction to attract people is absurd.

 

"Around here, you bring your own money to the poker game. We have the most vibrant tourism economy of any city in world, bar none. The presence of major league sports is not going make us or break us."

 

Of course, a team could move to Las Vegas and build its own ballpark. But the earliest a stadium could be ready is 2010, when the city's population, currently 1.7 million, is projected to reach 3 million. If a team began play today, Las Vegas would be the smallest media market of any city in the majors.

 

"There's not a day that goes by that I don't have a number of people talking about it," said Don Logan, general manager for the Las Vegas 51, the Class AAA affiliate of the Los Angeles Dodgers. "But the people here that really follow it and understand it know we're a ways away from having anything in place to accommodate a team.''

 

The Marlins have several Vegas connections. Team owner Jeffery Loria has known Logan for nearly 20 years Feldman is a longtime friend of Bruce Rubin, Loria's publicity consultant, who helped arrange the Vegas visit.

 

"The Marlins' visit helped elevate the discussion on whether Las Vegas is ready for a major-league team," Feldman said.

 

"But I don't think anyone's really believing that the Marlins are coming here. No one around here is walking around wearing Marlins shirts. To be honest we're rooting for the Marlins to do what they're doing, which is to find a home in South Florida and do well in South Florida. This is a franchise that's won two world championships in 11 years? Come on. You don't want to see that move. You don't want to see that happen. That's not good for baseball."

http://www.palmbeachpost.com/sports/conten...pozzi_0508.html

 

Interesting, how an extended interview with Feldman (not the over-exaggerated Mayor) really puts a downer on Las Vegas as a realistic destination.

 

Just thought I'd pass it along...

Why would the largest taxpayer, landowner, and employer support something that would compete against them?

 

A baseball team in Las Vegas will not happen. I would worry more about Portland, but even then you have some major issues with Salem and the Mariners rights to the Pacific Northwest and Pacific Canada.

 

This team isn't moving.

What about Charlotte? How viable is that market?

Charlotte, North Carolina has funding issues. The new Bobcats Arena pretty much took all what they could spare.

 

Their temporary facility is the home of the Knights which is not in Charlotte, but in South Carolina. The city would not pay for a renovation to a facility not in their limits or in their state.

 

Then comes the challenge by the Atlanta Braves as Charlotte is in their territory. The Nationals and Orioles also hold claim to Charlotte.

A lot of these reporters like to talk out of their asses on how many viable markets are in existence. Yet they usually dont talk about the negatives involved. I love what this guy has to say about preventing tax dollars from being used to build a stadium because its absolutley true. Once the talk of a stadium starts up, thats when the resistence groups rise.

 

 

Anyone find it interesting that this info about him being against use of taxpayer funds comes right after the failure at teh state? Maybe he didnt want to say anything or asked the writer not to say anything so as to allow his friend Loria to keep that leverage for the state. Now that the state is out of the picture, maybe he reveals that Vegas really never was a viable move.

 

 

Portland seems like the only likely place. They would need to actually approve financing first. When that starts up, the anti stadium groups should start popping up too.

A lot of these reporters like to talk out of their asses on how many viable markets are in existence. Yet they usually dont talk about the negatives involved. I love what this guy has to say about preventing tax dollars from being used to build a stadium because its absolutley true. Once the talk of a stadium starts up, thats when the resistence groups rise.

 

 

Anyone find it interesting that this info about him being against use of taxpayer funds comes right after the failure at teh state? Maybe he didnt want to say anything or asked the writer not to say anything so as to allow his friend Loria to keep that leverage for the state. Now that the state is out of the picture, maybe he reveals that Vegas really never was a viable move.

 

 

Portland seems like the only likely place. They would need to actually approve financing first. When that starts up, the anti stadium groups should start popping up too.

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Capozzi's always been pretty positive (and, to be honest, realistic) regarding the Marlins for about as long as I can remember.

 

I think it's refreshing to hear someone who has a publsihed opinion come out and say that while there are a few reasons to think relocation is possible, there are a plethora of road blocks to make it improbable.

If a team began play today, Las Vegas would be the smallest media market of any city in the majors.

 

Screw the majors. There are two handfuls or more of minor league TV markets that are bigger.

If a team began play today, Las Vegas would be the smallest media market of any city in the majors.

 

Screw the majors. There are two handfuls or more of minor league TV markets that are bigger.

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Of course the author (Carpozzi) ignores the fact that by the time a stadium were built in Las Vegas the population is expected to double to over 3,000,000, not to mention the tourist population.

 

The Palm Beach Post is no longer a "local" newspaper. They have no more relevancy to Miami-Dade (read Miami Marlins fans) as the Cleveland Plain-Dealer.

If a team began play today, Las Vegas would be the smallest media market of any city in the majors.

 

Screw the majors. There are two handfuls or more of minor league TV markets that are bigger.

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Of course the author (Carpozzi) ignores the fact that by the time a stadium were built in Las Vegas the population is expected to double to over 3,000,000, not to mention the tourist population.

 

The Palm Beach Post is no longer a "local" newspaper. They have no more relevancy to Miami-Dade (read Miami Marlins fans) as the Cleveland Plain-Dealer.

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The tourists won't go watch baseball games. That's the last thing on their minds. True, Las Vegas will have a population of over 3,000,000 by 2010. However, Las Vegas residents are highly transient. Las Vegas probably has the most transient residents in the country. As such, it will be very difficult for a team like the Marlins to build inter-generational fan loyalty (or even intra-generational, for that matter). We have a lot of transplants here in South Florida, but in general those transplants stay and their children stay as well (especially compared to Las Vegas).

Only way Vegas will get 10K fans a night is have the games at 8 in the morning.

I hate to say it, but baseball in a retractible-dome stadium in Las Vegas would be a big, big hit. Tourists don't want to watch sports? You don't think people who visit Chicago want to go to Wrigley? or people who visit NY want to go to Yankee Stadium? Trust me - the stadium in Las Vegas would be one of the poshest, most spectacular arenas in all of sports, and they would make sure it was a tourist attraction. It would be completely privately funded by one of the resorts, they'd throw some slot machines in there, and it would be amazing. Anyone who doesn't see that has never been to Vegas. Check out the new Steve Wynn hotel that just opened up if you don't believe there are private entrepreneurs willing to spend hundreds of millions of dollars on something like this.

 

I don't want to make it sound like i'm rooting for this - just the opposite, i don't want it to happen but i'm scared because i see it as a realistic threat. The next team that moves somewhere will move to Las Vegas, you better believe it. We should just hope we get our stuff figured out before Oakland does.