Opinion: There’s real good real estate for sports in Las Vegas

The theory that women’s professional sports would never be “big league – that is, attracting big audiences in the arenas and stadiums – took a forearm shiver (look it up!) this week as the Las Vegas Aces, an WNBA team, reported its season tickets were sold out for the 2024-2025 season.

Also tripping over its own feet was the idea that because “Lost Wages” has long been identified with gambling that it wasn’t viable for a major league sports franchise.

The Aces have won two WNBA titles in a row. The Las Vegas Raiders were a disappointing 8-9 in 2023, but were 6-3 at home. The Vegas Golden Knights of the NHL are one of the most successful expansion teams in big league history, making the Stanley Cup playoffs in their first four seasons (they started in 2017), made the finals in their first season and won it all in 2023, beating the Florida Panthers in five games.

[Irony of the ice hockey finals played between two cities totally devoid of any ice or snow duly noted].

Right around the corner – more or less – is the move of the Athletics from Oakland to Las Vegas, one which is complicated by uncertainty about where and when a stadium would be built in the desert city.

Wrapped up in all of this is a major shift in the purpose of a big league sports franchise. It’s really all about real estate. As evidenced by newest stadia, the sports venue is just part of the package. It’s more about the setting inside a “suburb” of nightclubs, restaurants, bars and concert venues that will bring in streams of revenue regardless of the team’s performance.

Having such a development – with the Raiders or A’s as an appetizer – dramatically reduces the gamble of spending big bucks for a game, especially in the mecca of gambling.