Vegas, the sports town?

[meStevo]

Still trying to reconcile the Raiders coming to town as a Chiefs fan, but it was just announced that MGM is buying the San Antonio Stars and relocating them to Las Vegas.

Just in the last few years:

NHL: Vegas Golden Knights
NFL: Las Vegas Raiders (eta 2020/2021)
USL (Soccer): Las Vegas Lights FC (eta 2018)

Prior to this... just a AAA baseball team (Stars / 51s), for the Dodgers and then Mets (and will be a different team next year). They're building a new stadium and the Lights will have exclusive use of Cashman Field once that happens in 2019.

It's just surreal. Are MLB and NBA far behind? I think we need to see how well the Raiders do before we start talking about another large stadium project unless it's someone wants to privately fund it and take the risk. NBA feels like a good fit but is probably more about the opportunity to expand/relocate than whether or not Vegas is ready.

As a dad, I'm pretty happy about all of these developments. Never thought I'd be able to raise my kids in this kind of environment.

 

[The Fat Man]

I actually had a weird dream last week that the Celtics moved to Vegas and Boston was adding an expansion team. Not that the Celtics would ever leave Boston. But, I do believe that the NBA would be next, as all they would have to do is use the same arena as the Golden Knights.

 

[SamCdbs]

The economics of baseball, playing every day with a major dependence on regional TV $$ do not mesh with the reality in Las Vegas. The NBA is a different deal, but the issues it had with its all-star game fiasco linger.

 

[EarDemon]

Five years ago I would have predicted an expansion NBA franchise for Vegas in the T-Mobile Arena and another stab at an expansion NHL franchise in KC at the Sprint Center. The NBA is in more [US] markets then any one of the other Big 4, where they are the only league in town. Memphis, OKC, Orlando, Portland, Sacramento, Salt Lake and San Antonio. Plus, I thought Bettman would have learned his lesson about putting an ice hockey team in the desert.

 

[meStevo]

via Twitter, preparing for tomorrow's groundbreaking.

 

[meStevo]

Surreal.

 

[SamCdbs]

As an aside, I think UNLV and the Las Vegas Bowl will benefit greatly from the Raiders' stadium. Current Sam Boyd Stadium is 7 miles from campus, kind of on the edge of development (LV is like that, it is 100% developed until you reach the desert and then it is just desert).

With an air conditioned 72K chair back seats, and being the fastest growing metro area in the country, UNLV could evolve itself into being a serious football power. The LV Bowl, just another of the endless run of bowl ESPN tosses up can become much more important, with the new stadium being right in the heart of the tourist area. Also note that LV has fostered international tourism with various rugby deals, and expect that to expand as well.

 

[meStevo]

It's already paying dividends: UNLV football getting taste of life with Las Vegas stadium

The UNLV Athletic Department got a call from the University of California, Berkeley wanting to develop a home-and-home football series with the Golden Bears of the Pac-12 Conference.

And they want to be the first opponent UNLV plays once the Rebels move into the stadium for its 2020 football season.

“They literally want to be the first game in the stadium,” University President Len Jessup said in a recent interview about the status of a joint-use agreement with the Oakland Raiders on the stadium the team is building on 63 acres at Interstate 15 and Russell Road.

“We didn’t get those kinds of offers from Pac-12 schools for Sam Boyd Stadium,” Jessup said. “That’s a function of the new stadium.”​

 

[madmadworld]

How about those Knights ?

We got the 11th best player from All the teams. These LV Elevens are just fun to watch.
Some of the best players are on the last year of their deals.. so keeping them BIG for the future.

 

[meStevo]

4 years later Vegas is the home of more than a half dozen other minor teams and the potential next home of the Athletics.

Pivotal vote on the 20th about their Howard Terminal plans, as a 4th trip to Vegas is in the cards to continue to discuss possibilities here.

 

[SamCdbs]

I still really question baseball in Las Vegas. Football is 8 games a year, mostly on Sundays and the TV market does not really matter, as it is almost 100% national $$. Hockey is 41 games, Baseball is 81 games, including maybe 10 “travel day” weekday day games. And baseball is very dependent on RSN $$, which even if you include all of Nevada (Reno is much closer to San Francisco than it is Las Vegas) isn’t that much.

The NHL has made hay by, among other things, marketing at the away team’s fans. That has some potential for MLB as well, but I don’t know.

Rumor has the Rio being torn down as the stadium site.

 

[meStevo]

Think that rumor died when it was acquired last year, renovations are planned or in progress.

I'm kinda rooting for the Cashman Field site, with a Texas Rangers-style sliding roof Stadium.

I'm not a big baseball fan, but the idea of spending an afternoon downtown eating, drinking, enjoying some live music then walking over to the Cashman site for a game... that'd be a good time.

A number of strip sites available, like the festival grounds next to the Sahara. They seemingly haven't ruled out suburban sites either. Could drive an experience similar to what I said above in downtown Henderson too.

Either way, even if they stay in Oakland it's been suggested they may end up playing some games at the Aviators Las Vegas Ballpark during the transition to their new home at the Howard Terminal site.

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[IcEWoLF]

Vegas will most likely get the Oakland A’s because the city of Oakland stadium is a dumpster and the city it’s just being lazy. I expect within the next decade that Vegas gets a pro NBA team and most likely a pro MLB team.
They sell out easily and lots of tourism. Just makes sense.
Clippers may relocate to Vegas and Seattle may get a new team in the future.

 

[meStevo]

This project is about to break ground, re: NBA.



Few expect this project to ever materialize.

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[meStevo]

Bad day for Athletics fans in Oakland. A's said this term sheet wasn't a path forward, the city council then approved it 6-2. Remains to be seen if the A's are done negotiating or what.

Oakland City Council approves terms for Howard Terminal ballpark against A’s wishes, but team undecided on next steps

The Oakland City Council approved a proposed term sheet Tuesday for the A’s proposed...

www.sfchronicle.com

 

[Jimbo]

Bad day for Athletics fans in Oakland. A's said this term sheet wasn't a path forward, the city council then approved it 6-2. Remains to be seen if the A's are done negotiating or what.

Oakland City Council approves terms for Howard Terminal ballpark against A’s wishes, but team undecided on next steps

The Oakland City Council approved a proposed term sheet Tuesday for the A’s proposed...

www.sfchronicle.com

Wow, you read 1 article and they want you to sign up for a subscription.
Only if they can have it on my porch by 6 am every day.

 

[madmadworld]

Wow, you read 1 article and they want you to sign up for a subscription.
Only if they can have it on my porch by 6 am every day.

You got to read it ?

Had to google it, then was able to cached it.

 

[Jimbo]

You got to read it ?

Had to google it, then was able to cached it.

If you keep clicking "Back to home"

 

[SamCdbs]

Bad day for Athletics fans in Oakland. A's said this term sheet wasn't a path forward, the city council then approved it 6-2. Remains to be seen if the A's are done negotiating or what.

It appears we are now finally at the bluff call.

A little review of the numbers.

San Francisco - Oakland - San Jose is DMA #6, with 2,364,740 TV homes or 2.21% of the total. It certainly has home team status in Sacramento, which is #20, 1,317,500 or 1.21%, and the other assorted small TV markets nearby.
Average income in Alameda County is $43K.

Of course this is split with the Giants. I would let an expert comment, but my read is its maybe 70-30 or better in the Giants’ favor.

Las Vegas is DMA #39, 743,220, 0.67%. It really has no associated DMAs, except maybe Reno, which is #104, 254,040, 0.28%, which is still closer to San Francisco by a large margin. Average income in Clark County is $31K, and it has the highest %age of people who work off-shifts of any city in the country.

But Las Vegas is growing, 1.23% per year, the fastest in the country. It was like DMA #150 when the system started back in the 60s. Nevada had one congressman (the minimum) until 1990, today it has 4. But, of course, with so many people from elsewhere, automatic locality to the “home team” is not assured.

So, what do you do if you are the A’s. It seems that the city is not serious about going forward, and the Giants have prevented a move to other parts of NoCal, which IMHO, would be the best solution. Go to Las Vegas and try to make it as, by far, the most live gate dependent team in MLB. Or do you look at Portland, DMA #22? Or do you look at the huge media markets of Vancouver, or Montreal. With a proper stadium and an owner not trying to lose on purpose, Montreal dwarfs all other North American possibilities by a large margin.

 

[meStevo]

Portland isn't an option, there's an ownership group up there waiting on an expansion opportunity imo not a relocation.

Vegas metro area is close to 3m people, but if the A's do announce no path remains in Oakland a few other cities are expected to be considered.

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