I
recently completed a graduate school class at UNLV in which I did my
final paper on whether or not Las Vegas should host an NBA team and
wanted to include an excerpt on my findings. Some interesting info
indeed...
Supporters of Las Vegas
need not look further than 24 years ago to realize that Sin City
played a very similar role in an effort to save a franchise, but the community
failed to make a positive impression. The NBA's Utah Jazz played
roughly a quarter of their home games in Las Vegas at the Thomas & Mack
Center during the 1983-84 season in hopes of raising revenue, and the move surprisingly
led to the teams most successful season ever at the time. The Jazz ended up
making the playoffs for the very first time and won the Midwest Division. The
reason it is viewed as a surprising outcome is because the Jazz went 5-6 in
their 11 home games in Las Vegas, and the fans came out mainly to see the
opposition play. The team's two biggest crowds that season came when former
UNLV star Reggie Theus played in Las
Vegas for the first time as a pro and then later when
Los Angeles Lakers center Kareem Abdul-Jabbar broke the league's all-time
scoring record. Those two games were the
only ones to top 10,000 fans in attendance, proving the city was simply not
ready to host a franchise at that time.
The Jazz
played two more games in Las Vegas
the following season, but poor attendance again left a bad taste in the mouth
of the NBA and remains the biggest obstacle standing in the way of the city getting
a franchise. Following is a breakdown of the teams results over the course of
two seasons in Vegas, including attendance:
1983-84 SEASON (5-6)
DATE OPPONENT RESULT SCORE ATT.
Nov. 23, 1983 Chicago Lost 128-117 13,150
Nov. 29, 1983 Phoenix Won 114-110 7,118
Dec. 9, 1983 San Antonio Lost 126-117 7,251
Jan. 4, 1984 Houston Won
116-111 8,167
Jan. 24, 1984 Dallas Lost 123-115 7,742
Jan. 31, 1984 Seattle Won 98-94 7,132
Feb. 7, 1984 San Diego Lost 109-103 6,967
March 13, 1984 Portland Won 124-119 7,754
March 23, 1984 Golden State
Lost 115-103 6,234
April 5, 1984 L.A. Lakers Lost 129-115 18,332
April 10, 1984 Denver Won 132-120 7,328
1984-85 SEASON (2-0)
Nov. 2, 1984 Seattle Won 107-101 3,737
Dec. 9, 1984 Kansas City Won 123-120 4,006
People involved with the team felt
a lack of staffing and resources definitely hurt their cause and kept them from
boosting attendance. Another issue involved gambling, as the team's games were
taken off the betting boards of local sportsbooks. NBA commissioner David Stern simply
does not want people in the stands rooting for the false outcome of a game,
like a point spread. While that would
likely be the case again if the city were to get a franchise, the lack of
support by the community is still the biggest sticking point. The bottom line
is that a team must acquire a fan base capable of selling out the arena and
maintain a minimum amount of season ticket holders. Las
Vegas has sold out numerous preseason NBA and Team USA
exhibition games over the years since then, but those events are viewed as
limited engagements like a concert or show.
I started this paper as an avid
sports fan who wanted to see a franchise come to town badly because I believed
it would provide quality-of-life benefits and offer another outlet for the community
to rally around. What I have discovered in my research is that Las Vegas does not need a pro sports team any more
than a team needs this city. There is no doubt in my mind that Vegas can
support a team economically, and the team would pass along economic benefits in
return. But those economic benefits would not likely be any different than what
a new show or entertainer could bring into a casino on the Strip. I strongly
believe the biggest social problem with hosting a franchise in Las Vegas would be whether or not the revenue
generated would be allocated to helping the community. I do not think that
revenue would give back to schools and address other pressing needs. In this
case, there are certainly other cities across the country more in need of a
team.