‘Big winner Vegas’

Former Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman spent plenty of time during his dozen years in office trying to convince the major professional sports leagues that Southern Nevada was ready for a team.

Conventional wisdom held that the most likely candidates would be an NBA or NHL franchise.

But while no major-league team has yet materialized, even the mayor’s critics would likely acknowledge that Mr. Goodman’s tireless efforts certainly raised the area’s profile among top officials with the NBA, NHL, NFL and Major League Baseball.

Now comes the Aug. 8 issue of Sports Illustrated, which includes the results of a poll of big-league ballplayers, asking: Were baseball to expand, which city should get a team first? Of the 295 players who responded, 33 percent said Las Vegas.

Four cities — Nashville, Charlotte, Portland and New Orleans — tied for second with a paltry 7 percent.

“Big winner Vegas is one of two cities in the top 10 without a major pro sports team,” the magazine noted. “The other is San Juan, P.R. (which was tapped by just 3 percent of the ballplayers polled).”

But don’t investigate season tickets just yet. Las Vegas is a long way off from landing a big-league baseball team. While legalized sports gambling is no longer the insurmountable obstacle it once was, other roadblocks remain.

MLB expansion is nowhere on the horizon — and franchise movement has been rare over the past 40 years. In addition, the local TV market is relatively small, while brutal summer temperatures would necessitate that any major-league stadium here be built with a retractable roof, vastly increasing costs.

In addition, Southern Nevada’s stagnant economy, hemorrhaging housing market and minor population decline make it somewhat less attractive for a pro team than it was just a few years ago.

That said, the Sports Illustrated poll represents great news. When it comes to attracting a big-league team — in any sport — the opinions of the players carry significant weight.