User:Stolilv87/Sandbox/Sports in Las Vegas

Las Vegas is one of the largest cities in the United States without a major league sports team. If it does not get a team before the 2010 U.S. census it will likely be confirmed as the largest metropolitan area without one. There are many sports activities in the area. The University of Nevada, Las Vegas fields Division I athletic teams and the NCAA football Las Vegas Bowl is in Las Vegas. The Las Vegas Motor Speedway (LVMS), just north of the city hosts NASCAR and other automotive events. Visitors and residents also have many options for boating, golf, hiking, rock climbing. The city has many parks which offer a wide range of activities.

Las Vegas is home to several minor league sports teams: the Las Vegas 51s of the AAA Pacific Coast League, the Las Vegas Stars of the International Basketball League and the Las Vegas Wranglers of the ECHL (hockey). Due in part to perceived risks with legal sports betting, no major professional sports league has ever had a team in Las Vegas, with the exception of the Utah Jazz's half-season at the Thomas and Mack Center in 1983-84. The placement of a major-league team in Las Vegas is an ongoing topic of discussion between city leaders and the professional sports leagues. When asked about the possibility of professional sports in the city, Mayor Oscar Goodman said "We are closer than we have ever been."

The University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) Rebels (the name Runnin' Rebels is used only by the men's basketball team) host Mountain West Conference events on the UNLV campus and eight miles (13 km) east, at Sam Boyd Stadium. Indoor sporting events are held at the Thomas & Mack Center complex, both at the main arena and at Cox Pavilion, a smaller arena attached to the complex.

Professional outdoor football has been attempted twice in Las Vegas. The XFL's Las Vegas Outlaws and the Canadian Football League's Las Vegas Posse. Both teams folded after only one season of play. The XFL folded outright, while the Posse were a failure at the box office and part of the CFL's failed U.S expansion attempt. Posse QB Anthony Calvillo went first overall in the 1995 dispersion draft of Posse players, and went on to have a stellar career in Canada

The NBA awarded the 2007 NBA All-Star Game to Las Vegas. This was the first all-star game to be played in a non-NBA city. As part of the conditions the NBA set for holding the game in Las Vegas, sports books agreed not to take bets on the game.

The professional sports league problem
There have been several explanations given as to to why Las Vegas has not had a professional sports team.

The most prominent issue is the perceived stigma of legal sports betting, which may be seen as a conflict of interest for any team located in Las Vegas. All four major sports leagues have strong anti-gambling policies, prohibiting their personnel from having any involvement in gambling. The NFL has taken the toughest (and arguably most unreasonable) stance, refusing to accept Las Vegas tourism advertising for Super Bowl telecasts and threatening to file suit against any local hotels holding Super Bowl parties.

Some potential owners believe a professional sports franchise would have difficulty competing for an audience, given Las Vegas' numerous entertainment options. Las Vegas also has a high percentage of residents working in 24-hour industries. A significant number of people work nights and weekends, when most games would be played.

Another obstacle is the lack of suitable facilities. Cashman Field, Sam Boyd Stadium, the Thomas & Mack Center, MGM Grand Garden Arena, and Mandalay Bay Events Center are all either outdated or inadequate. This may become a moot point, at least for the NHL and NBA, as Harrah's Entertainment and the Anschutz Entertainment Group have committed to building a new arena on a parcel of land behind Harrah's Paris and Bally's off the Strip. The arena is expected to open in the fall of 2010. Although the arena is all but a sure thing, there have been no announced plans to replace Sam Boyd Stadium or Cashman Field.

MLB
In April 2004, Major League Baseball (MLB) Commissioner Bud Selig publicly revealed that MLB was considering Las Vegas as a potential home for the Montreal Expos. MLB eventually chose Washington, D.C.. Washington won primarily because the city agreed to provide a new stadium built entirely with public funding. There have also been contacts between city officials and several Major League Baseball owners regarding relocation. The ownership of the Florida Marlins held a widely-publicized meeting with Mayor Oscar Goodman in the winter of 2006. The Minnesota Twins were also rumored to be interested in Las Vegas, as were the Tampa Bay Rays and the Oakland Athletics. The Twins are getting a new ballpark near downtown Minneapolis, and the A's (who played several home games in Las Vegas in 1990 due to earthquake damage at the Oakland Coliseum) are getting a new stadium in the city of Fremont. The Marlins are trying to get a new park built on the site of the demolished Orange Bowl in Miami, and a recent court ruling seems to have cleared the way for construction. The Rays have a tentative design for a new waterfront stadium at a location yet to be determined, but plans to proceed were recently put on indefinite hold. The team's poor attendance despite clinching the first playoff spot in team history in 2008 casts doubt upon their future in the Tampa Bay area. Some sports writers have concluded that the Rays are the most likely candidate for Las Vegas.

Major League Baseball will hold their 2008 Winter Meetings in Las Vegas, and there will undoubtedly be a major sales pitch made on behalf of the city to the assembled owners and executives.

NBA
Rumors surfaced in 2005 about the possible relocation of the Sacramento Kings to Las Vegas. In November 2006 California voters rejected a proposal to fund a new arena in Sacramento. A new arena is considered to be a condition of the team remaining in Sacramento. Another possible factor is that the owners of the Kings, the Maloof family, also own the Palms Casino Resort in Las Vegas. The Milwaukee Bucks have also been mentioned as possible candidates for relocation to Las Vegas. There is widespread speculation that the completion of a new Las Vegas arena (currently under construction) will bring teams from the NBA and NHL. Las Vegas hosted the 2007 NBA All-Star Game, the first time that event has been held in a non-NBA city. The NBA Summer League is currently held in the city, and the USA Olympic basketball team trained in the city in 2008.

NFL
The NFL has expressed strong opposition to sports betting and they have expressed the least interest among the four major sports leagues in putting a team in Las Vegas. However, with football's national popularity and only eight home regular season games (and few playoff games compared to the other leagues), an NFL team may be a good fit for the city.

There was recent mention in the Las Vegas media that the San Diego Chargers may be considering Las Vegas as a relocation destination.

NHL
Film and television producer Jerry Bruckheimer is an avid hockey fan. He reportedly has had informal talks with the NHL about owning a team in Las Vegas (possibly by means of expansion). Mayor Oscar Goodman mentioned in 2006 that he was contacted by the owner of an NHL team about moving to the city, but he declined to identify the team.

MLS
The local media reported in the summer of 2008 that Las Vegas is on the short list of Major League Soccer for an expansion franchise in the near future.

Special sports events
Las Vegas hosts the Las Vegas Bowl, a college bowl game, around Christmas day. The game generally pairs a Pac-10 Conference team and a Mountain West Conference team.

In 2005-06, the city hosted ArenaBowl XIX and ArenaBowl XX at the Thomas & Mack Center. It was the AFL's first-ever neutral-site title game. After two years of disappointing attendance, the game was moved.

The NASCAR Sprint Cup series has drawn up to 165,000 fans. Las Vegas also hosts a significant number of professional fights. Many of these fights (such as those in MMA's UFC) take place near downtown or on the Strip in one of the major resort/hotel/casino event centers. Mandalay Bay is frequently a top contender as a venue for the UFC. The National Finals Rodeo has drawn thousands of fans to the city since 1985, and a contract extension was signed in 2005 keeping the event in Las Vegas through 2014.

Boxing
Las Vegas is also host to many professional boxing matches and has hosted many heavyweight boxing championship bouts.

Notable bouts

 * The Battle of the Little Giants (1981)
 * Sugar Ray Leonard vs. Thomas Hearns (1981, 1989)
 * Larry Holmes vs. Gerry Cooney (1982)
 * The War (boxing) (1985)
 * Julio César Chávez vs. Meldrick Taylor aka Thunder Meet Lightning(1990)
 * Michael Carbajal vs. Humberto Gonzalez I (1993)
 * The Bite Fight (1997)
 * Fight of the Millennium (1999)
 * Barrera versus Morales trilogy (2000, 2002, 2004)
 * De La Hoya vs. Mayweather (2007)
 * Hatton vs. Mayweather (2007)
 * Bernard Hopkins vs. Joe Calzaghe (2008)

Mixed Martial Arts
Along with significant rises in popularity in Mixed Martial Arts (MMA), a number of fight leagues such as the UFC have taken interest in Las Vegas as a primary event location due to the number of suitable host venues. The Mandalay Bay Events Center and MGM Grand Garden Arena are among some of the more popular venues for fighting events such as MMA and have hosted several UFC and other MMA title fights.

Golf
Las Vegas is known for its abundance of golf, over 60 in total with more being planned and constructed. Some of the most notable golf courses in the Las Vegas metropolitan include: Rio Secco Golf Club, TPC at Summerlin, Wynn Golf and Country Club and Rhodes Ranch. There have been several golf tournaments to be held in Las Vegas, the first of which beginning in 1984 as the Panasonic Las Vegas Invitational won by Denis Watson of Zimbabwe. Las Vegas was also host to the LPGA's Takefuji Classic between 2003 and 2006 after the event had been moved to the Las Vegas Country Club after three years in Honolulu, Hawai'i and the PGA Senior Tour's Las Vegas Open. Las Vegas is still home to the Justin Timberlake Shriners Hospitals for Children Open, a descendant of the Las Vegas Invitational, which is played TPC at Summerlin during the PGA's Fall Series ticket.

Motor sports
Las Vegas has become an internationally known motor racing locale having hosted the elite Formula One racers at Caesars Palace and the Championship Auto Racing Teams (CART) for Indy racers in the early "80's. Las Vegas was also the home of the famed "Mint 400" Desert Race from 1968-1987 run in the unforgiving Nevada desert outside Las Vegas. Nearly 100,000 spectators lined the 100 mile (160 km) loop to view the 500 plus off road racing vehicles. Sponsored by Del Webb's Mint Hotel and Casino, the event was the largest and richest event in the sport. The technical and safety inspection was held on famed Fremont Street and became one of the major must attend sporting events in Las Vegas history. The race ended when Del Webb organization sold the Mint Hotel to the adjacent Horseshoe owned by the legendary Binion gaming family.

Over the years, Vegas was the host for the Las Vegas Grand Prix.

The CanAm races 1966-68 were held at the old Stardust Raceway and were officially called the Stardust Grand Prix.

In July 2006, the Las Vegas City Council approved a 2.44-mile, 14-turn, counterclockwise street circuit in the downtown area for a Champ Car event slated for April 6-8, 2007.

Events
Las Vegas hosts these motor sports at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway:


 * NASCAR Sprint Cup Series: UAW-Dodge 400
 * NASCAR Nationwide Series: Sam's Town 300
 * NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series: Qwik Liner Las Vegas 350
 * NHRA SummitRacing.com Nationals (April)
 * NHRA ACDelco Las Vegas Nationals (November)

Events
Las Vegas hosts these Professional Rodeo events:
 * BigHorn Rodeo
 * PBR World Finals -- Built Ford Tough World Finals
 * National Finals Rodeo -- Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association Wrangler National Finals Rodeo

Las Vegas Marathon
The Las Vegas Marathon is one of the oldest marathons in the United States, having been run since 1967. The marathon was organized by Al Boka since 1983, who sold the marathon in 2005 to Devine Racing, a Chicago-based race organization company that is responsible for several other races, including the Los Angeles Marathon. Devine redubbed the race as "The New Las Vegas Marathon", and updated the course to include the Strip. Introduced on December 4, 2005, the new course marks one of the race occasions that the Strip is closed to traffic. Prior to that, the course had run on the old Los Angeles Highway, beginning in the community of Jean, Nevada, and ending inside Las Vegas proper (Sunset Park). Additionally in 2005, the date of the marathon was changed from January to December to help ensure better weather.

Darts

 * Las Vegas Desert Classic

Roller Derby

 * Fabulous Sin City Rollergirls (WFTDA)

Tennis
Las Vegas is home to The Tennis Channel Open hosted at The Amanda & Stacy Darling Memorial Tennis Center. An international series tournament with a $500,000 prize fund which attracts stars such as Lleyton Hewitt, James Blake and Las Vegas native Andre Agassi.

Other events
Vegas is the end point for the annual Baker to Vegas Challenge Cup Relay. This 120 mile long foot race is run in April of each year by law enforcement teams from around the world. The race starts in Baker, California and is run over two days. The 2006 race was the 22nd race and had teams from across the United States and from 4 other countries. This is the largest law enforcement athletic event in the world.

In 2006, the city hosted the USAFL National Championships, the biggest event in the United States for the sport of Australian rules football, with over 2,000 players from the US and Canada including local team Las Vegas Gamblers.

Las Vegas is also home to the professional paint ball team Las Vegas LTZ and amateur team Sin City Paintball.