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According to a report in the Vancouver Province newspaper, expansion of the NHL to Las Vegas is a "done deal.''
Sources close to the situation have indicated Las Vegas is a done deal, the only thing to be determined being which owner will be entitled to proclaim that he brought the first major league sports franchise to Sin City. And given how dead set against a team in the gambling haven the commissioner was 10 years ago, this move into another player friendly state-tax-free zone represents a considerable about-face indeed.
This news comes as Bwin.Party investor, Jason Ader, is also seeking to land a Major League Soccer franchise in Sin City.
Expansion of professional sports franchises to Las Vegas have been met with opposition in the past. Leagues often cite the ease of gambling on games from Vegas, where sports betting is legal.
“Las Vegas is a city that can support a professional soccer team. The first professional (major-league) team is not going to be basketball, baseball or football,” Ader said. “(Soccer) is an exciting prospect.”
Resistance is not only due to gambling however.
Last month Gambling911.com cited CBS Sports Radio 1140’s Ken Boehlke’s notion that Las Vegas lacks a critical element that makes sports franchises successful: fan loyalty.
Boehlke stated:
“If you ask someone from Las Vegas where they are from, you’ll almost always get a response of somewhere other than Vegas. It’s not because people who live in Vegas aren’t proud, it’s because they aren’t really from Las Vegas. Most locals are from somewhere else in the country, places like the east coast, Chicago, or Los Angeles. This poses a major problem for expected support of a new franchise. In all four major sports, Vegas is a melting pot of fandom, but there’s certainly not a yearning for a team to cheer for. Everyone has their favorite, and odds are they won’t instantly fall in love with their new “hometown” team.”
- Don Shapiro, Gambling911.com
