NBA commissioner cuts the odds

by Steve Carp

LAS VEGAS, Nevada – Your ball, Mr. Mayor.

In the latest development in Mayor Oscar Goodman's quest to secure a major league sports franchise for Las Vegas, NBA Commissioner David Stern told him Wednesday to submit a plan that addresses the issue of local sports books accepting wagers on NBA games.

Stern and Goodman met for an hour Wednesday morning at City Hall before Stern gave the keynote speech at the Las Vegas Chamber of Commerce luncheon at the Four Seasons to kick off the league's All-Star Weekend. When someone in the audience asked him about the city's chances of one day joining the NBA, Stern coyly responded, "Can you keep a secret?"

He then went on to say that, in his meeting with Goodman, he was open to discussing what has been the major sticking point in his mind regarding the city and the NBA.

"I told him, 'Oscar, this gambling stuff is the American way,'" Stern told the audience. "'Forty-eight states have lotteries. There's video poker, slot machines. I just have this one little issue. ... I have a problem with betting on basketball. It's time for you to make a proposal to me.'"

Stern recently has said that if the league's owners want to put a franchise in Las Vegas, he would have to seriously consider it. Several owners, including the Maloof family, which owns the Sacramento Kings, and Mark Cuban, who owns the Dallas Mavericks, have said in the past that they believe Las Vegas could support the NBA.

For Goodman, this was truly music to his ears.

"It's the best possible news short of us having a team," he said. "I feel very optimistic that the proposal we make to the owners will be met with a favorable response."

Stern said Goodman didn't need to rush. But he hoped the mayor's plan would be in his hands by March 23, a month before the Board of Governors meets in New York.

"Let's enjoy this weekend and celebrate Las Vegas hosting the NBA," Stern said.

Stern also said it would be premature to speculate on any franchise relocations or expansion in light of his meeting with Goodman.

"What happens is when a plan is being considered, we do an analysis," Stern said. "We analyze the TV market. We analyze facilities, everything. We haven't done anything like that."

As for expansion, Stern didn't foresee that path for Las Vegas right now.

"We have enough teams," he said. "Thirty is a nice round number.

"I'm looking forward to hearing from the mayor, hopefully by March 20. I told him not to rush. He doesn't need to get it done by the weekend. But the ball's in his court and I'm waiting to hear from Oscar."

Later in the day, Stern added that he was not concerned that gambling would lead to games being fixed.

"I'm not afraid of the fixing of games," Stern said. "I think betting changes the dynamics."

Fans leave arenas happy if the home team wins. "They're not worried about the team covering" the point spread on sports wagers, he said.

Goodman plans to meet with the 30 NBA owners over the course of the weekend, gauging their temperament to see what it would take for them and Stern to move forward on any proposed Las Vegas franchise.

"I'll be currying favor with all of the owners," Goodman said. "I'm going to go drinking and carousing with them. And then I'll have my wife (Carolyn) talk to them. She's much better looking than I am."

Jokes aside, Goodman knows this is his big chance. And he's not taking the responsibility lightly.

"I'm going to sit down with the smart people, the people in the casino industry. I'm going to talk with (Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority president) Rossi Ralenkotter. I'm going to put together a plan that is reasonable."

Speculation has it that Goodman's plan will be to persuade the books not to accept wagers on a Las Vegas NBA team but not eliminate accepting bets on the league altogether. It would bring back the old "UNLV rule," which prohibited sports books from accepting bets on the school's football and basketball games. That rule was rescinded in 2001.

Goodman said his proposal will not call for a complete ban on NBA betting in Nevada.

"I think there can be a little compromise," said Goodman, a former criminal defense attorney. "But I think gambling is good. And the way it is regulated here helps strengthen the integrity of the games. If there's anything funny, the books immediately contact the FBI and they apprehend the offending parties.

"Believe me, I know the system works because I've represented some of these sports fixers."

Kings co-owner Gavin Maloof said he has faith in the mayor.

"I don't know what he'll do, but I'm sure Mayor Goodman will come up with something creative."

At least one major casino company expressed an openness to conversations about adjusting its sports books.

"There's no point in us drawing a line in the sand at this point," said Alan Feldman, spokesman for MGM Mirage. "We will do what we can to have a productive conversation."

But Feldman also criticized the NBA's continuing stance toward betting on its games.

"I think this is all incredibly silly," he said. "For the commissioner of the NBA to be opposed to having a team where there is legal gambling, where there is regulation and monitoring, while knowing full well there is illegal gambling in every other NBA city, is unexplainable."

Goodman said an arena, the other part of the equation for Las Vegas to secure a major league franchise, will have to wait until he meets with the league's owners in April. Goodman claims to have five potential groups ready to commit to building a state-of-the-art facility to host the NBA and/or the National Hockey League, but he declined to identify them.

"Right now, this is my priority," he said of the gambling issue proposal. "First, we'll deal with this. Then we'll address the arena project."

However, Stern, speaking to the Review-Journal's editorial board later in the day, said the lack of an arena -- as well as concerns over other demographics, including the city's size -- was an issue that needed to be addressed sooner rather than later.

Goodman and Clark County Commission Chairman Rory Reid commissioned a study last year on the need for a new arena. The report determined the Thomas & Mack Center needed to be replaced but could not be built without a subsidy of millions of dollars a year in public money.

Goodman has said he could do it without public dollars, though he hasn't said how. Reid on Wednesday said he opposes using public money for a new arena where a private operator would take the revenue, the economic model used recently for NBA deals.

"The mayor and I both agree the NBA would be good for the community," Reid said Wednesday. The question, he said, "is whether or not to use public financing to build an arena. I believe private parties should step forward and explain to the community how they can contribute to making this possible."

Feldman said he too supports an NBA Franchise here. "It's a terrific thing," he said. But he said there should be no public dollars used on a new arena.

"Entertainment attractions in the state of Nevada are developed by private companies," he said. "There's no rationale (for using tax dollars on a new arena) until or unless the public starts paying the bill for casinos and hotels here, which is ridiculous."

Reid said he would not immediately take a position on removing NBA games from sports books.

"I want to talk more with the mayor before we publicly start to discuss what is appropriate," he said. "It's appropriate for the community to send one message to the NBA."

When Goodman was asked to assess his chances of swaying the owners to move forward on bringing Las Vegas into the NBA fold, he said: "It'll be a slam dunk."

Review-Journal writer David McGrath Schwartz contributed to this report.

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