[owelles]

Originally Posted by Golfinnova

The Orleans Arena holds 9,500 so it's just too small. If it held 16,000, then it would make the move more favorable.

One of the main things professional sports leagues are interested in with their arenas is the capacity for luxury boxes, not just seats within the arena. It's one of the main reasons the Sacramento Kings are a good bet to leave Sac some day. They're trying to work out details for a new arena there on the grounds of the California State Fair at Cal Expo, and NBA Commissioner David Stern even has gotten involved in the process, but it's a long way from being a sure thing.

The Kings' current arena seats more than 17,000, which is adequate. But it's among the worst in any pro sport for available luxury boxes. That's where the real money enters the picture. Las Vegas probably has a strong enough corporate base to fill those luxury boxes, and in the long run, that would be just as important - maybe even more important - as fillling the regular seats.

[pistola916]

The Kings belong to Sacramento!...I'm sick of seeing pro teams leave. The Sonics should still be in Seattle and the Vancouver Grizzlies should have at least been given a fair shot to be competitive. You don't move teams because their bad , and losing money. Of course, if the team is awful, fans won't show up, which means lots of money lost for the owners, but I hate it when new owners buy the team and relocate them..i.e. sonics.

[flyingtigers]

Originally Posted by pistola916

The Kings belong to Sacramento!

Why don't you ask Kansas City who the Kings belong too....

[JackieB23]

Originally Posted by flyingtigers

Why don't you ask Kansas City who the Kings belong too....

Darn right.

[owelles]

Originally Posted by pistola916

You don't move teams because their bad , and losing money.

Yes, you do move them because they're losing money. The Maloofs are fans, but they're also businessmen. And pretty good ones at that. The Kings' previous' owners sold to the Maloofs when they determined that the income to be generated from luxury boxes wasn't enough to sustain a profit even remotely comparable with other teams in the NBA.

The Kings have shown a lot of loyalty to Sacramento, but if a noticeably sweeter deal materialized from Vegas, or Anaheim, or San Jose, all of which have a larger corporate presence, they would have to consider it.

[ClarkGrisowld]

Interesting point about luxury boxes. It IS a big revenue generator. In Vegas, I'm not sure I see a lot of corporations buying them up. Some of the casinos may do so and basically comp them to large groups.

But I don't think that matters. A number of large groups will come to Vegas and they will rent out a box to entertain. Vegas would be almost unique in that regard to any other market in that there will always be plenty of corporate groups who might shell out 5-10k for a booth for the night. On the other hand, if you are talking baseball that is the slow season.

[ClarkGrisowld]

Originally Posted by Yeti

Then in the final minute of play the casual fan realizes whats going to happen.

Also, in Detroit in a 50,000 seat arena you might have 100 people that bet over $100 on the game in the stands. In Vegas, you would have 45,000 people in the stands that bet over $100 on the game.

See the potential for problems here?

I think that's a pretty ridiculous scenario. I would not rule it out, but 10k bets on a single game would be pretty rare, and most people would realize they aren't collecting and face repercussions far beyond the 10k.

A more likely scenario, but one that is also low probability, is a player from a visiting team, maybe just a role player but not with a huge contract, gets in over his head in a poker game and an opportunist gives him a way out.

Just won't happen. The scenario you describe of a high risk gambler who bets too much on a game and gets in over his head would be just as likely to make large wagers online anywhere in the country, meaning such scenario is arguably just as likely anywhere else. And it hasn't happened.

I mean, think about that. People bet at the horse track but no one has ever run onto the field or done anything to affect an outcome. You take the game off the board and you have no issue with gambling that isn't just as prevalent anywhere else. And anyone wanting to fix games will choose a target that would get far less scrutiny.

[owelles]

Originally Posted by ClarkGrisowld

A number of large groups will come to Vegas and they will rent out a box to entertain. Vegas would be almost unique in that regard to any other market in that there will always be plenty of corporate groups who might shell out 5-10k for a booth for the night.

Most luxury boxes are rented to companies for an entire season, although I think your scenario of renting on a nightly basis would make more sense in Vegas than in other cities for specifically the reason you mentioned.

I think the major casino companies would participate, too, as another incentive to entertain their high rollers, although with all the recent cutbacks in non-essential spending, who knows?

[Yeti]

meh -

Las Vegas Downtown News (http://www.lasvegasdowntownnews.com/Article.asp?id=934827&spid= - broken link)

[flyingtigers]

Originally Posted by Yeti

Las Vegas Downtown News (http://www.lasvegasdowntownnews.com/Article.asp?id=934827&spid= - broken link)

I like the idea of a downtown arena the best. That would jump start redevelopment.