NFL reshuffle to benefit Las Vegas - Forbes

This summer, the NHL expanded for the first time in more than 15 years, awarding a franchise to Las Vegas. Granted, while hockey is a religion in Canada, it barely moves the needle in the United States, save for cities such as Detroit, Boston and a few others with rich hockey traditions.

Even so, the NHL’s willingness to place a team in Vegas was an important moment, not just for the city but possibly the entire professional sports landscape. For years, various leagues were tied to Las Vegas, ginning up expansion rumors, particularly after the NBA held its annual all-star weekend festivities there in 2007, but nothing ever came of such rumblings. One reason was the financial crisis. Perhaps no other city exemplified the lending excesses and economic troubles that led to the housing collapse quite like Las Vegas.

Even more important was the notion, unfounded or not, that the presence of legalized sports wagering would jeopardize the integrity of games played there. No sports commissioner wanted any part of a gambling scandal.

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By expanding there, though, the NHL served notice that such concerns can be easily overcome (if not entirely misplaced), paving the way more leagues to consider Las Vegas

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All of which brings us to last month, when the Nevada Senate approved a deal to provide public financing for a proposed football stadium in Las Vegas in an effort to lure the Oakland Raiders away from the Bay Area.

The fortunes of Las Vegas have always been cyclical. Years past, it was a mob-run gambling destination, glorified by the Rat Pack and other Hollywood stars. Then, during the 1970s and 80s, it became Sin City, a seedy, everything-goes bazaar of semi-lawlessness.

From there, the casinos attempted to soften their image, building more family friendly properties like The Mirage, Excalibur and Treasure Island. Now, it’s all about appealing to the young and the beautiful, explaining the explosion of nightclubs, pool lounges and high-end restaurants, but those ventures aren’t big money makers. Gambling is, and revenues haven’t fully recovered since the financial crisis.