Las Vegas makes pitch for Expos

[SuperAngels]

03/08/2004 1:06 PM ET

Las Vegas makes pitch for Expos

City attracts 32 million visitors annually

By Barry M. Bloom / MLB.com Ticket information

 

PHOENIX -- Las Vegas is making a pitch to become the new home for the Montreal Expos, and is among the candidates being considered by Major League Baseball's relocation committee, Bob DuPuy, Major League Baseball's No. 2 official, said Sunday.

Caesars Entertainment Inc. has been talking for months with MLB about the possibility of a $400 million retractable roof ballpark, which would be built on land behind one of its prime hotels located on a portion of the famed Strip. The facility would be built in Clark County mostly using private funds, but the project is in its formative stages.

 

Legal wagering is not inhibiting MLB from exploring Las Vegas as a possibility. Gambling on local sporting events such as University of Nevada Las Vegas basketball games in Nevada used to be prohibited. But a change in the law three years ago now allows betting on any sporting event played in the state, said a spokesman for Las Vegas Sports Consultants.

 

''The Major League Baseball relocation committee has been exploring Las Vegas as a possibility,'' Commissioner Bud Selig said on Sunday.

 

The relocation committee has been focused this year on recent bids made by Las Vegas, Norfolk/Hampton Roads, Va., and Monterrey, Mexico. Washington, D.C., Northern Virginia and Portland, Ore., all made initial bids last year. But because none of those three areas completed site selection or funding for a new ballpark, MLB opened up the relocation process to more suitors.

 

MLB's prime consideration in finding a new locale for the Expos is still the building of a new ballpark. The relocation committee hasn't spoken officially with ownership groups in each community.

 

"We're honing in on the relocation process with specific attention being paid to the newer communities," DuPuy said in a telephone interview Sunday. "We're just trying to put them on equal footing with the other communities that have been involved in the process longer."

 

Robert Stewart, a spokesman for Caesars, confirmed his company's involvement, but characterized the discussions with MLB as "preliminary." A spokesman for Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman said it was their understanding that MLB had moved the city, which has a population of 1.6 million and draws in excess of 32 million annual visitors, near the top of the relocation list.

 

Selig said this past January that he wanted to have the MLB owned-and-operated Expos relocated in time for the 2005 season. The target date for having a decision in place is the July All-Star break.

 

As he has in the past, DuPuy, MLB's president and COO, declined to comment on the specifics of each proposal.

 

Though Washington, D.C., has long been considered as one of the front-runners for the Expos, Orioles owner Peter Angelos has been ardently against placing another MLB team 35 miles from Baltimore.

 

The Orioles draw from the northern Washington suburbs and take advantage of selling their games to a much larger television market. The combined Washington/Baltimore market with a population of 8.7 million and 3.3 million television homes is the fourth largest in the U.S., while the Baltimore market alone is listed as 25th.

 

"Would you put another team 30 miles away from the Red Sox or the Rangers?" Angelos asked in the New York Times recently. "I don't see anyone trying to put a team in northern New Jersey to compete with the Yankees and the Mets. I don't think anyone should. Hopefully, the opposition we've taken will be recognized as accurate and appropriate. I don't have a grudge against the city of Washington, but the economic facts are the economic facts, and they don't change."

 

Selig said Sunday that he is aware of how the Expos moving to Washington would affect the Orioles.

 

"Certainly it is a concern of mine," Selig said. "I've always been concerned how any situation affects existing franchises. But the relocation committee is hard at work looking at everything, and we shall see."

 

Barry M. Bloom is a national reporter for MLB.com. This story is not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.

[QuickGold]

The relocation committee has been focused this year on recent bids made by Las Vegas, Norfolk/Hampton Roads, Va., and Monterrey, Mexico. Washington, D.C., Northern Virginia and Portland, Ore., all made initial bids last year. But because none of those three areas completed site selection or funding for a new ballpark, MLB opened up the relocation process to more suitors.

I say put them in DC and bring back the Washington Senators

[Beinfest4Prez]

The relocation committee has been focused this year on recent bids made by Las Vegas, Norfolk/Hampton Roads, Va., and Monterrey, Mexico. Washington, D.C., Northern Virginia and Portland, Ore., all made initial bids last year. But because none of those three areas completed site selection or funding for a new ballpark, MLB opened up the relocation process to more suitors.

I say put them in DC and bring back the Washington Senators I am all for that, maybe Robb Nen's dad can sign with them as alumni director, considering played for the Sens in the 60's...

[MiamiSpartan]

It never made any sense to me that the old Senators and Orioles were both in the American League...I think a National League team in DC makes some sense, because it would give fans a chance to see teams from both leagues...Someone might go to see the Yankees play in Baltimore, and a few days later go to see the Dodgers play in DC...

Las Vegas is an interesting addition, tho. It is the fastest growing metropolis in the US, and the tourists could go see their local teams play....No other pro team anywhere near them, either....

Portland also makes some sense....Not near another major league city, and the rivalry with the Mariners would be good....I just wish MLB would make a decision already...

[QuickGold]

There's definetly a market for DC as the Redskins & Ravens in the NFL have established it. I just like the idea of bringing back the Senators. The real problem with the name is that the real Senators are the Minnesota Twins so I'm assuming they have rights to the name.

 

And I'm sure it would be a NL team seeing as the Expos(whom will be replaced) are in the NL.

[DTrizzle]

And I'm sure it would be a NL team seeing as the Expos(whom will be replaced) are in the NL.

Say Las Vegas becomes their new home....Obviously that team would not be part of the NL East...so they take a team from the central and move it to the east...right?

[Guest Juanky]

Las Vegas would probably become an NL West team, Arizona or Colorado would move over to the Central, and someone in the already packed Central would scoot over to the East, maybe the Cubs ( ) but likely the Pirates.

 

Or if the MLB doesn't want to do that, they can just move the Expos to the AL if they move to Vegas, send them to the AL West, and that division will have 5 teams. Then they could move one of the teams out of the crowded NL Central into the NL East to compensate (again, either the Cubs or the Pirates, preferably the Cubs so we can have our rivalry) and have 6 even divisions of 5 teams, with 15 in each league.

[nc marlin]

Las Vegas would probably become an NL West team, Arizona or Colorado would move over to the Central, and someone in the already packed Central would scoot over to the East, maybe the Cubs ( ) but likely the Pirates.

 

Or if the MLB doesn't want to do that, they can just move the Expos to the AL if they move to Vegas, send them to the AL West, and that division will have 5 teams. Then they could move one of the teams out of the crowded NL Central into the NL East to compensate (again, either the Cubs or the Pirates, preferably the Cubs so we can have our rivalry) and have 6 even divisions of 5 teams, with 15 in each league.

The reason there isn't 15 in each league is so that teams can always be playing. If its an odd number than teams would always be having to play interleague either that or a team would have a 3 day break every few weeks which wouldn't work out. Unless they contract to 28 or expand to 32 there will continue to be the 14-16 split i believe.

[QuickGold]

Pittsburgh is a good bet