May 12, 2004
Clock running out on Vegas
Las Vegas could be the latest casualty in Survivor: Expos: the city's projected $450 million stadium (another data point, incidentally, in why no one believes the Florida Marlins can build a retractable-roofed ballpark for $325 million) would require public funding, and public funding would require a vote of the Nevada legislature, and the Nevada legislature isn't in session. A special session is possible, but, notes Doug Pappas, it "couldn't possibly meet and approve such a tax before Las Vegas's final proposal to MLB is due on Friday."
Pappas adds that both Las Vegas and Portland "are casting covetous eyes at the Oakland Athletics." The end of the Expos saga could yet lead to an unexpected side effect: a renewed frenzy of stadium-grubbing by teams like the A's and Twins, as the Expos also-rans begin wooing other existing franchises. Maybe Bud Selig isn't quite as dumb as we thought.
