Harrah's to build sports arena behind Ballys - Page 2

RickAstleyFan · #11 08-23-2007, 03:55 PM

Honestly, bringing a pro team to Vegas would be good for sports in general.

I believe the A's played there for part of a season in 96 or so, and drew very well despite no planning or marketing.

MiltonFriedman · #12 08-23-2007, 03:55 PM

"What I dont understand is why they didnt discuss with the city in advance,..."

Ballys, and the Strip, are outside the City of Las Vegas. You know that the County is the real heavyweight entity.

Bottomline, Oscar was a real pain in the ass for Harrah's when they acquired the WSOP. Remember Oscar's strongarm : "I'll block the move unless you agree to run the finals Downtown for another year".

Also, Jan Jones likely has no love for Oscar either.

MiltonFriedman · #13 08-23-2007, 04:02 PM

... not to mention the likely skittishness the NBA has for gambling venues these days.

MiltonFriedman · #14 08-23-2007, 04:05 PM

"reminds me of LA.'

Californication. Damn!

Dawg24 · #15 08-23-2007, 04:27 PM

David Stern has said several time it will not even be considered as long as gambling on the NBA is legal in NV...so I would say no chance.

MicroBob · #16 08-23-2007, 04:29 PM

Las Vegas drew just over 5k fans last year. They also had a really good team that finished first in their division with a record of 46-12-14.

5k fans is pretty good for that level. The capacity for Orleans arena is 7,800.
The league average was 4,100. Stockton led the league with 6,700.
Long Beach was last among the western "National Conference" teams in that league with 2,200 per game.

The top drawing team for the AA level of hockey is Oklahoma City at 8,700 playing in a different league.
OKC naturally plays in the Ford Center which is pretty much an NBA/NHL caliber arena and is much nicer than what most minor-league teams get.
It would be roughly the caliber of arena that Harrah's would be looking to build I imagine.

So if LV could do 5k/gm at their current venue at the Orleans I wonder how much better they could do in an awesome new venue with a better location.

Think of it this way:
If you live in LV now and are only vaguely familiar with this team or when they are playing a game then I suspect they could be doing better. No matter how well they market themselves they're just kind of "that team that plays all the way down there at the Orleans on some weekends."

With a location just off the strip in a dazzling new arena there would be more casual passers-by attending.

Same thing would go for a new location for the Las Vegas 51's baseball team too imo but that's probably not an option.

Another option for the hockey team would be to just play SOME of their games in the new arena and keep the Orleans as their regular home.
The team in Indianapolis as well as a few other teams used to do that although I don't know if they still do.
They would play 80% of their games in the small and old Pepsi Arena which would hold around 5k fans and then would play 5 or 6 games a year at the big Conjelco Arena downtown where the Indiana Pacers NBA also plays.

Anyway, just thinking that this minor-league hockey team would be a good way to get this arena a little boost upon its completion/opening because it doesn't seem THAT likely that they'll just immediately have an NBA team right-away and they would probably like to have SOMETHING that they could put in there.

SenatorKevin · #17 08-23-2007, 05:00 PM

The location is gonna suck for locals. Plus that means major traffic on Koval Ave during events... I'm not even a local and I'm worried. Although, you'd expect a lot of foot traffic.

Mr_Mxyztplk · #18 08-23-2007, 05:06 PM

they'll prolly use it for monster truck pulls

*TT* · #19 08-23-2007, 05:10 PM

[ QUOTE ]
"What I dont understand is why they didnt discuss with the city in advance,..."

Ballys, and the Strip, are outside the City of Las Vegas. You know that the County is the real heavyweight entity.

Bottomline, Oscar was a real pain in the ass for Harrah's when they acquired the WSOP. Remember Oscar's strongarm : "I'll block the move unless you agree to run the finals Downtown for another year".

Also, Jan Jones likely has no love for Oscar either.

[/ QUOTE ]

thanks, I always forget the county/city issue because I live in the city.

*TT* · #20 08-23-2007, 05:10 PM

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With Harrah's ESPN clout this seems real.

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lol, I had to laugh a little at this one.

I have no idea if an NBA team will come to Vegas, but I'm pretty sure ESPN and Harrah's aren't too fond of each other.

[/ QUOTE ]

source?