Comments on: NFL wants nothing to do with proposed Las Vegas stadium

By: maximusprime107

maximusprime107 — Thu, 17 Jan 2013 18:49:39 +0000

The NFL embraces fantasy football for pay because they make money off of it. If they could get a cut from the gambling in Vegas they would be all for it

By: turfrage

turfrage — Thu, 17 Jan 2013 16:38:21 +0000

Does Vegas really need that much more money??? They could probably get us out of this recession right now with all the bills flowing through there.

By: mrlaloosh

mrlaloosh — Thu, 17 Jan 2013 15:29:16 +0000

Mara pulling the strings, as usual.

By: bkh405

bkh405 — Thu, 17 Jan 2013 15:10:16 +0000

I’d imagine it’s a jealousy issue. Whoever was able to buy up a Vegas team would clearly be making money hand over fist every season, even if their team was miserable. I can see other owners citing that as some sort of competitive edge.

With all that money walking into your stadium you’d have to be incompetent on Shad Khan levels to not make your team better.

By: schmitty2

schmitty2 — Thu, 17 Jan 2013 15:00:14 +0000

The real concern should be safety. Go goggle when the NBA all star game was in town a few years ago. The city set a homicide record

By: badmojo148

badmojo148 — Thu, 17 Jan 2013 14:48:42 +0000

As a long time resident of Las Vegas I can tell you it isn’t about the gambling per se. Years ago you could watch the SuperBowl in any casino. They all had huge parties set up in ballrooms and theaters where you paid a $40 entrance fee and all the beer and food you could consume was included. They had showgirls and retired players show up to these parties, as well as betting stations right there. When Paul Tagliabu was commissioner, ALL the owners approached the Nevada Resort Association and told them that they deserve a cut of the profits that the casinos made on superbowl sunday because it was “their product” that was making the money. The casino owners promptly laughed at that request. So the NFL sued the casinos in federal court claiming copyright infringement. As a result you are no longer able to bet the “SuperBowl” in Las Vegas. You have to bet on ” The Professional Football World Championship”. You can only watch the game in the sports book. This is all about the greedy NFL owners getting snubbed and not being able to put their sticky hands in someone elses pockets. If the casinos cut them in for a piece of the pie, you would see games here every year. They are going to build some kind of stadium here, and when they do look for some marquee college games to be played here. The NCAA isn’t as greedy.

By: spartan822

spartan822 — Thu, 17 Jan 2013 14:48:01 +0000

Lots of people already think NFL games are fixed. That will only get worse if the NFL were to embrace gambling.

By: tommysaint1

tommysaint1 — Thu, 17 Jan 2013 14:41:06 +0000

Sounds like a Colin Coward idea.

By: bobleblah

bobleblah — Thu, 17 Jan 2013 14:06:10 +0000

The NFL point spread line can be found in (nearly) every sports section of every newspaper in the country.

By: ussportsfanuk

ussportsfanuk — Thu, 17 Jan 2013 13:57:04 +0000

They won’t look at Las Vegas for a team because of the betting but they will consider London?

Maybe the NFL will need to realise that sports betting does take place in London and some of the soccer stadiums even have places in them where you can place a bet!

By: belichickrulz

belichickrulz — Thu, 17 Jan 2013 13:54:46 +0000

The NFL should get on board with this idea, and announce that Las Vegas will be the permanent home of the Super Bowl as well. Las Vegas is the best place in the country to hold an event of that magnitude, especially compared to places like Jacksonville or NYC (New Orleans does a nice job, though). That would also take away one of the tools that owners use to extort money from local taxpayers to pay for their shiny new stadiums.

By: jgedgar70

jgedgar70 — Thu, 17 Jan 2013 13:40:08 +0000

At some point, someone in the league office is going to tell Roger that the NBA had its all-star game in Vegas a few years ago (Roger is so busy being Discipline God that he probably completely missed it). Someone else is probably going to tell Roger that since the league hosts a fantasy football program on nfl.com, they actually already encourage gambling (Roger is so busy being Discipline God that he probably doesn’t know you can play fantasy football on nfl.com). And then someone is going to tell Roger that the league could make bucketfuls of money with even a preseason game in Vegas (Roger is so busy being Discipline God that he probably has forgotten that the NFL brings in about $9 billion a year, and needs to be reminded it can be more than that).

Then, we will see a magical transformation into the NFL being OK with games played in Vegas.

By: JMB

JMB — Thu, 17 Jan 2013 13:38:04 +0000

Memo to the NFL; millions of your fans gamble on your games… seems to be working well for you.

By: jgedgar70

jgedgar70 — Thu, 17 Jan 2013 13:30:40 +0000

dotdashx4 says:
Jan 17, 2013 6:40 AM

Vegas has no football team, it has no team that would regularly use the stadium at all. With a combined population for Las Vegas, North Las Vegas, and Henderson, NV under 2 million, it is not hard to see why; Las Vegas lacks the population to support a major sports franchise. Hell, they can barely even support minor league teams.
_____
The Vegas metro area is very similar in size to the Charlotte metro area. The Panthers have only had 4 games blacked out in 17 seasons at B of A Stadium. The Bobcats drew very well the 1 season they were any good, and of course the Hornets sold out 360 straight games at one time. The AAA hockey team does very well. The AAA baseball team doesn’t draw well, but that’s mainly because they play in the next county, and will do much better when they start playing in their new downtown park next year. Vegas is plenty big enough for 1 or 2 major league teams.

By: going4iton4th

going4iton4th — Thu, 17 Jan 2013 12:31:31 +0000

I think someday the league has to stop being so high and mighty and give Vegas it’s blessing. When you have teams like the Bills and Raiders that struggle in their own markets and you have a viable revenue stream you need to realize that Vegas should be seriously considered.

By: steelerfan9598

steelerfan9598 — Thu, 17 Jan 2013 12:21:48 +0000

MORE people would bet on the game because it was played nearby? Much like the ‘war on drugs’, it just keeps money flowing to the wrong places.

By: csilojohnson

csilojohnson — Thu, 17 Jan 2013 12:19:54 +0000

I can’t believe they are bringing a super bowl to that stadium. Stupid idea.

By: eaglesfanintx

eaglesfanintx — Thu, 17 Jan 2013 11:59:57 +0000

If you build it, they will come.

By: phillyfreak24

phillyfreak24 — Thu, 17 Jan 2013 11:57:52 +0000

If there was a team in that city then there would be a player arrested or suspended once a week.

By: jayhawk6

jayhawk6 — Thu, 17 Jan 2013 11:57:05 +0000

“…the league would look pretty hypocritical for looking to host events in Las Vegas.”

A cynic would tell you that the popularity of the NFL in its early days stemmed from the fact that stadiums could sell beer on Sundays. Likewise that same cynic would claim that the phenomenal and continued growth in popularity comes from wagering on the games.

The NFL is well aware of this and its continued snubbing of Las Vegas is the apex of hypocrisy.

By: 8man

8man — Thu, 17 Jan 2013 11:52:42 +0000

“While we understand that gambling significantly increases the interest in our product, elevates television revenues and continues to grow the NFL, we don’t want to admit any of that is occurring nor even risk bringing that to light with any physical connection to Las Vegas.”

They are already hypocrites.

By: dotdashx4

dotdashx4 — Thu, 17 Jan 2013 11:42:00 +0000

Generate $400 million for the city, but Cowboys stadium cost $1.2 billion. That pretty much sums up the economics skill of today’s modern GOP/Democrat representative. Only one of those fools could think an $800million deficit is a good choice.

By: dotdashx4

dotdashx4 — Thu, 17 Jan 2013 11:40:04 +0000

And who will pay for this ridiculous project? The people of Las Vegas, who are still among the most unemployed in the country. Cowboys stadium cost $1.2 billion so let’s go with that figure.

The gambling is such a stupid point of contention. The real one is that it is completely unfeasible to do this. Shame on the powers that be for considering shelling out that kind of cash simply because they cannot accept the fact that Vegas is just not big enough for a sports team.

By: fuglyflorio

fuglyflorio — Thu, 17 Jan 2013 11:37:40 +0000

Aren’t the owners being just a little ridiculous?

By: 1972wasalongtimeago

1972wasalongtimeago — Thu, 17 Jan 2013 11:36:23 +0000

Yeah, nobody who lives outside of Nevada bets on games. And stadiums across the country don’t put up Fantasy Stats on scoreboards during reg season games.

I’m glad the NFL doesn’t want to seem hypocritical. It’s not like the betting that goes on in Vegas benefits the league or anything.

By: wayne1693

wayne1693 — Thu, 17 Jan 2013 11:34:24 +0000

Sports gambling goes on all over the country; perhaps a resident in 1 of 5 households partakes in this national activity. At least when it occurs in a State where it is lawful…the State reaps significant benefits. Elsewhere, the proceeds are for the most part going to shady off-shore companies. So which is better? The days of the ‘Black Sox’ are over; the NFL should get over its false notion that it is protecting the sport by its protestations.

By: skiss68

skiss68 — Thu, 17 Jan 2013 11:30:18 +0000

I love the way the nfl embraces fantasy football but hates gambling. Like every last one of us in here doesnt play fantasy football for money.

By: benroethlisberger7

benroethlisberger7 — Thu, 17 Jan 2013 11:26:53 +0000

LOL

By: johnstone17

johnstone17 — Thu, 17 Jan 2013 11:22:43 +0000

Complete hypocrites !!!!!!!!

By: nokoolaidcowboy

nokoolaidcowboy — Thu, 17 Jan 2013 11:14:01 +0000

Goodell: Ehh, we gonna need a little taste to wet our beaks!