Las Vegas not out of MLS expansion plans

By Rob Miech

Wednesday, Oct. 15, 2008 | 4:54 p.m.

Major League Soccer met a deadline it had set for months when it revealed seven prospective expansion candidates late Wednesday afternoon in New York.

Las Vegas, which has had a private group working with MLS for an expansion team for 2 1/2 years, was not on the list.

However, that does not mean Las Vegas has been removed from expansion consideration.

“I have never taken my foot off the pedal,” said Mark Noorzai, the founder and president of the Las Vegas Sports & Entertainment Group, from his home in Camarillo, Calif.

“We’re going strong and working with the league. We’re not one of these expansion groups that submitted something under the current structure. We’re in constant discussion with the league.”

The Columbus Dispatch erroneously reported Wednesday that Noorzai had ended his bid for a Las Vegas expansion team.

In an unrelated deal, Noorzai has been negotiating to become a minority partner with the Columbus Crew of MLS.

The 14-team league will add Seattle next year and Philadelphia in 2010. Two expansion cities could be added to the fold for the 2011 season, and MLS plans to announce its final decisions by early next year.

Noorzai and LVSEG spokesman Paul Caligiuri, a Hall of Fame defender, have told the Sun of their plans for a $500 million, retractable-roof, soccer-specific stadium on the Strip.

They haven’t been altered, but nondisclosure agreements with every partner and potential associate preclude Noorzai and Caligiuri from detailing their progress.

MLS president Mark Abbott, who is in charge of expansion, listed Atlanta, Miami, Montreal, Ottawa, Portland, St. Louis and Vancouver as expansion candidates on MLSnet.com.

Neither Abbott nor Dan Courtemanche, a league vice president who handles marketing and communications and is on vacation, could be reached for comment.

MLS commissioner Don Garber has mentioned the possibility of expansion beyond 2011.

“It’s pretty obvious that the first ones in are going to capitalize,” said Jerry Colangelo, a former owner of the Phoenix Suns and Arizona Diamondbacks who has been bullish on Las Vegas as a major sports town for years.

“When you have a market that has a couple million people and you have some industry … with the first team in, the Welcome Wagon is there to develop relationships. You’re getting grassroots and corporate support. You’re the new show in town.”

A weakened economy is affecting everyone, so Colangelo said that’s a major factor. But he said there are not many choices, either, in sports entertainment.

In general, he believes the first major sports team in Las Vegas will reap extraordinary benefits.

“Without being specific, there’s a growing interest in soccer,” Colangelo said from his home in Arizona. “It’s much stronger in some markets than others. That determination has to come from those people who are really analyzing the whole situation and are doing their due diligence.

"But there is some real value added to being the first big sports team in a city.”