Could Las Vegas Be the Next NBA City?

You have to give Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman an "A" for persistence. Neither the bad economy, nor the bad publicity from the All-Star Game in 2007 -- or even the stepped-up anti-gambling push after the snake-like Tim Donaghy raised his head -- has deterred Goodman from continuing his push for an NBA franchise.

He does make a lot of sense. Las Vegas really would be NBA heaven.

Goodman at his weekly press conference Thursday brought up the issue again of moving forward with plans for a new downtown arena in hopes of luring an NBA franchise to his city.

Considering Las Vegas has successfully hosted NBA exhibition games for many years, and it has been hosting the NBA-sanctioned Summer League, Vegas really would be a great place for the league to put a franchise.

Many NBA players spend time and money in town there during the off-season. Owners in Vegas would have no trouble luring free agents. And it sure beats Milwaukee or Toronto in January.

"I believe as soon as we have an arena -- this is my belief, I have nothing that is signed in blood, there's no contract -- but I believe we'll have a team,'' Goodman told reporters at his press conference Thursday.

Goodman wants his Las Vegas city council next week to give exclusive contract for the development of a downtown arena project to the Cordish Company, a Baltimore-based real estate developer.

The NBA has long been intrigued by the prospect of adding Las Vegas to its club, but there currently are no plans for expansion beyond the 30 teams it already has and the league keeps discouraging the movement of existing franchises.

Kansas City has been trying for years to get into the NBA mix and it already has a new arena waiting for a tenant. Seattle, which just lost its team to Oklahoma City, has made noise about wanting another team, and possibly building a new arena. Yet Las Vegas -- with a new arena -- would blow everyone else out of the water.

Teams all over the league are looking for ways to cuts costs now. Even commissioner David Stern has said he expects a significant drop in league revenues this season.

Yet Vegas wants to move forward in a bad economy, which really accentuates its desire for a team. Current teams in Charlotte and Memphis are struggling badly to sell tickets, and they likely would welcome a pitch from an arena-ready Las Vegas.

The 2007 All-Star Weekend in Vegas was filled with problems when fans went overboard in their enthusiasm, and the city police weren't ready to handle it. There were fights, shootings and other lawlessness from fans that flooded the city and caught everyone off guard. Yet those were easily correctable problems.

Goodman thinks the NBA would thrive in Las Vegas.

And he's ready to prove it with a new arena.