Fuggedaboutit Jason Ader: Four Reasons Why Vegas Won’t Get an MLS Team

As reported by Gambling911.com during the early morning hours of Wednesday, Bwin.party activist investor Jason Ader has announced his plans to bring a Major League Soccer franchise to Sin City.

He’s one of two interested parties looking to establish the first ever professional sports team in Las Vegas,

Justin Findlay, managing partner of Findlay Sports & Entertainment, is the other.

It ain’t gonna happen though, at least that’s what CBS Sports Radio 1140’s Ken Boehlke is claiming.

The co-host of “Over and Under” offered up four reasons why we won’t see a professional sports team in Vegas any time soon, perhaps not even in our lifetime.

Stadium location is one issue.  A professional sports franchise in Las Vegas would need to rely on the locals, not the tourists and the locals have little interest in trekking where the tourists hang out (that would be Las Vegas Blvd.).

Location might be the weakest of Boehlke’s arguments, however, though it is hard to imagine getting enough local folks to fill a soccer stadium the size Ader is proposing.  We don't see a whole lot of tourists coming to Vegas to watch a soccer game.

Lack of true natives, professional sports teams fear of gambling in the US and the case study that was the 2007 NBA All Star Game each lend credence to the idea that Las Vegas simply cannot support a Major League Soccer team let alone any other professional sports franchise.

The 2007 NBA All Star Game concluded with 403 arrests and four separate shooting incidents.

Of course, one can argue that the vast majority of those attending the NBA All Star Game in any given year are from out of town, probably even more true for Vegas.  

As for the gambling element, Boehlke notes “For better or for worse all four of the professional leagues have a poor taste in their mouths about sports gambling. Even though the facts are clear that gambling is a large driving force behind the popularity of many sports, each of the major sports seem scared of getting to close to it. By coming to Las Vegas, a league would have to answer questions about the effects of gambling on the league, something they don’t want to do.”

Ader is less likely to have any fears involving the marriage between sports and gambling.  His company, Bwin, has long sponsored some of Europe’s biggest soccer clubs.  Unlike the NFL, NBA, MLB and NHL, professional soccer tends to embrace gambling across the globe.  Whether that is true of MLS remains to be seen.

In the end, it may all come down to lack of loyalty in dissuading Major League Soccer from setting up shop in Las Vegas.

Boehlke writes:

“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.”

Getting back to the gambling aspect, locals will probably be more inclined to support the team they believe has the best chance of covering the spread.

Perhaps there will be enough sports bettors to back their local team.

In 2001, Gaming Regulation 22.120(b) lifted the more than 40-year long ban that prohibited the state's sports books to make lines on Nevada's teams.

They may fill local sportsbooks, but will they fill the stadiums?

That is the $350 million question (the amount Ader is looking to invest).

- Aaron Goldstein, Gambling911.com