Fans react to an empty net goal by Vegas Golden Knights defenseman Nate Schmidt during the third period at T-Mobile Arena Tuesday, Feb. 26, 2019.
Thursday, Feb. 28, 2019 | 2 a.m.
Who’s next?
With the success of the Vegas Golden Knights — both at the gate and on the ice — and the upcoming arrival of the NFL’s Raiders, the question seems to be when, not if, another pro sports franchise will materialize here.
The seemingly bright future for the Las Vegas pro sports scene was one of the main topics Wednesday at the Global Sports Business Summit at the Las Vegas Convention Center.
“Las Vegas is a place where ideas become reality,” said Jeremy Aguero, principal of the research firm Applied Analysis, which is working with the Las Vegas Stadium Authority on development of a $1.8 billion football stadium here.
Multiple Major League Baseball teams are “sniffing around Las Vegas,” Aguero said.
“We are on everybody’s radar in Major League Baseball and every other major sport that’s out there,” he said. “We don’t know what’s going to happen, and it’s complicated, but we’re on the radar.”
MLB officials have openly talked in recent months about expanding from 30 teams. There are also some clubs — think Oakland and Tampa Bay — that have struggled to find long-term ballpark solutions and could be candidates for relocation.
But moving is not as common in baseball as in other sports. Montreal, which moved to Washington, D.C., in 2005 and is now the Nationals, was the first franchise to relocate in more than three decades.
Las Vegas has also been discussed as a potential home for an NBA team. It already has an NBA-ready venue in T-Mobile Arena, home of the Golden Knights.
Late last year, Phoenix Suns owner Robert Sarver threatened to move his team to Las Vegas or Seattle over an arena dispute, though he later said he was committed to staying in Arizona.
For the past 15 years, the NBA has held Summer League games in Las Vegas, and MGM Resorts International CEO Jim Murren said last year he expected the NBA to be here by 2023. The Las Vegas Aces, a WNBA team, moved to Las Vegas for the 2018 season and plays at Mandalay Bay.
Mark Prows, senior vice president of entertainment operations for MGM Resorts, a speaker at the summit, also predicted the NBA would be “the next big thing” for Las Vegas.
“It’s also not something where we’re going to force a square peg into a round hole. We’re going to let it happen organically,” he said. “We’ve been very active in conversations and, as many people know, the city has an amazing relationship with the NBA.”
Prows said he thinks it’s more likely that an existing NBA team would relocate to Las Vegas than the league expanding here.
“We’re talking about something that is probably five years or so down the road,” Prows said. “Frankly, with where we’re at with VGK and the Raiders, this market needs to absorb those (teams) from a sponsorship standpoint. It’s critical that we don’t get out over our skis as a city.”
Aguero made a similar point.
“Right now, the question is largely if we can support two pro sports franchises,” he said. “If we can, then I think a third one will take a very close look.”
