NHL team scuttlebutt not skating on thin ice

There has been a lot of posturing up to now when it comes to Las Vegas welcoming a major league sports franchise. A lot of political pretentiousness. A lot of big dreams and fancy speeches. A lot of hot air. A lot of rumors with no teeth.

That all changed this week. It’s amazing the difference legitimate people can make in such an endeavor.

The sport at hand — hockey — isn’t as significant as those reported to be seriously interested in housing a team here. Names such as Jerry Bruckheimer and the Anschutz Entertainment Group open eyes and raise interest. One is a top Hollywood producer, and the other has built some of the world’s most profitable sports and entertainment venues. They create genuine buzz.

Whether or not a story in SportsBusiness Daily about Bruckheimer wanting to own an NHL team in Las Vegas and play in an arena built and operated by AEG ever becomes reality, the fact that high-ranking league officials later confirmed talks on such a venture have taken place the last six months gives the account a sturdy set of legs.

Until now, any idea floated about major league sports barely had toes.

“I don’t doubt for a second the people of Las Vegas love the notion of major league sports coming, but I’ve always believed the realities of it are a stretch,” said Wranglers owner Charles Davenport, who admits his ECHL franchise would take a bigger revenue hit than anything Rob Blake could offer if the NHL arrived. “I just don’t think there is a large enough corporate presence or big enough media market to support it. Now, people with a lot more money and power than I have might think different.

“(Bruckheimer and AEG) are the kind of people who make things happen. People like me think this is a long shot. People like them could possibly pull off the miracle, I’m sure.”

The difficult (impossible?) part for Las Vegas should it land a team: Not becoming the Nashville Predators.

The Predators have lost $27 million the last two seasons, never able to translate what has been an exciting product on the ice into ticket sales and major corporate sponsorship off it. The owner (Craig Leipold) has agreed to sell the team to a Canadian businessman, who wants to move it to Hamilton (although he apparently also has at least one eye on Vegas).

The failure in Tennessee is a pretty harsh warning about all that could go wrong in a market such as Las Vegas, which means this never would work if the casinos didn’t embrace the concept.

The NHL has all kinds of problems (pathetic television ratings, rising ticket prices, a collective bargaining agreement that continues to create monetary troubles by separating large- and small-market teams) that raise the possibility any team here simply would bleed to death from red ink.

More importantly, it’s a league driven by corporate backing. That would demand one entity being seriously involved.

“Even if you put aside the business aspect that casinos might not want people out for three to four hours at a time attending a game and not gambling, they are the main industry in Las Vegas, and the main industry in any city must get behind the team for it to work,” Davenport said. “It’s still going to be hard to get people to buy the suites and to come through the doors by paying those ticket prices and helping to generate the revenues necessary for a (NHL) payroll of $40 million. But I will say that while we’ve heard these stories in one fashion or another 100 times, I absolutely think it’s legitimate if Bruckheimer and AEG are involved.”

The latter is to the point it is one of seven companies that recently submitted letters of intent to build an arena here.

So while it’s open for serious debate whether Las Vegas could support a franchise and not watch it go by way of the Predators, something feels different this time about the city actually being presented an opportunity.

Just in case, you might want to educate yourself on the differences between the Hart, Presidents’ and Conn Smythe trophies. You might want to remind yourself about which ways clipping can be assessed either a minor or major penalty. You might want to rent “The Mighty Ducks” and understand Fulton Reed doesn’t shoot all that hard when compared with the real thing.

It’s just a feeling, but one that the names Bruckheimer and AEG make seem all the more believable.

Ed Graney’s column is published Wednesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday. He can be reached at 383-4618 or egraney@reviewjournal.com.