1. Welcome to SportsJournalists.com, a friendly forum for discussing all things sports and journalism.

    Your voice is missing! You will need to register for a free account to get access to the following site features:
    • Reply to discussions and create your own threads.
    • Access to private conversations with other members.
    • Fewer ads.

    We hope to see you as a part of our community soon!

Come hell or high water -- Vegas wants a pro team

Discussion in 'Sports and News' started by Flash, Aug 23, 2007.

  1. wickedwritah

    wickedwritah Guest

    Who would do better?

    Let's send the NHL back into the John Ziegler years, why don't we.
     
  2. Flash

    Flash Guest

    You're suggesting there is no one to do a better job? That Bettman is as good as it gets?

    Please.
     
  3. wickedwritah

    wickedwritah Guest

    Didn't say there wasn't someone to do a better job, but I also don't see what everyone else has for wonderful ideas that would improve the game and its popularity -- ideas Bettman apparently is too stupid to come up with.
     
  4. Flash

    Flash Guest

    Given the opportunity, I'm sure someone could ...
     
  5. BNWriter

    BNWriter Active Member

    You'll excuse the expression...but my money is on the NHL. Talked to a couple of cabbies while in Vegas for the last SportsJournalists.com get-together in March who said that there was an increase in crime (shootings/robbing of tourists) during the days around the NBA All-Star Game.

    While this was the opinion of just a couple of people, it just struck me that with the NBA's problems with players and fans, LV's Mayor may want to have NHL (whose problems seem mostly internal from what I can tell), rather than NBA.
     
  6. Herbert Anchovy

    Herbert Anchovy Active Member

    Vegas has minor league baseball that nobody goes to even when the weather is temperate. They barely support UNLV athletics. As a sports town it's as flighty as its tourists, and it's reflected in the Review-Journal's approach to coverage.
     
  7. Football_Bat

    Football_Bat Well-Known Member

    I say NHL first, only because Las Vegas is such a small TV market. (It's growing rapidly but still way down the list at No. 48. Albuquerque and Greensboro are bigger.)

    The NHL would be more willing to penetrate this market because its revenue is largely attendance-driven, unlike the NBA. The NBA would balk at moving into another small TV market, one even smaller than Memphis. However, the NHL is already drawing test-pattern ratings, and a Vegas hockey franchise would draw well.

    I think any qualms about the sports betting would be short-lived. In Vegas it's all above board, while every NBA and NHL city has probably hundreds of bookies.
     
  8. Mystery_Meat

    Mystery_Meat Guest

    I guess it's perception more than reality, because that's a pretty good point. Every decent-sized city in America has spots gambling, but it's only in Vegas where it's sanctioned. There's a lot more oversight at Harrah's than there is Joey Numbers' backroom book.
     
  9. hockeybeat

    hockeybeat Guest

    Me.
     
  10. wickedwritah

    wickedwritah Guest

    This is not personally directed at you, HB, but I hear this crap all the time. Bettman sucks. Bettman doesn't know the game. Bettman is a tool.

    I have not heard three great ideas in the past 15 years worth two craps from the rest of the U.S. talking heads for improving the marketability and sustainability of the league. You can argue that the hard line in negotiations last time around may have saved the league, especially its Canadian teams, even if they had to nuke a season for it.

    I really want to know how this guy has screwed up so much. He is the owners' shill, as most commissioners are, and he is not the one who was out there begging for overexpansion.
     
  11. PCLoadLetter

    PCLoadLetter Well-Known Member

    That's the key part to me. Bettman did EXACTLY what the owners hired him to do. Anyone who thinks the owners are going to "wise up" and sack him is delusional.

    Under Bettman's watch I went from being an NHL season ticket holder to going about two seasons now without watching a regular season game. The lockout and overexpansion completely killed my interest level. The fault for those issues lies 100% with the owners. Bettman is merely the guy they installed to destroy their business.
     
  12. wickedwritah

    wickedwritah Guest

    At least Bettman attends the Cup finals and playoffs every year, unlike Johnny Boy, who was off cavorting in Europe each June.
     
Draft saved Draft deleted

Share This Page