Ball now back in NBA’s court

While in Las Vegas for the NBA All-Star Game in February, league Commissioner David Stern articulated a simple message for Mayor Oscar Goodman concerning his quest to bring a franchise to Southern Nevada: "The ball's in your court," said Mr. Stern.

Translation: The NBA has overcome its aversion to locating a franchise in the gambling capital of the world. But we're still squeamish about placing a team in a town that allows full-blown sports wagering on our games. How will Las Vegas address our concerns?

Mr. Stern got his answer this week.

In a proposal sent to Mr. Stern -- which he says he'll forward to the league's Board of Governors -- Mr. Goodman & Co. made their pitch for an NBA team but declined to embrace any sort of limitation on legal sports wagering.

"We would like to emphasize that Nevada's regulatory system has a record of performance that should provide sufficient cause for the (NBA) to permit a franchise to exist comfortably in Las Vegas without concern for corruption or interference by unsavory individuals," said the proposal, signed by Mr. Goodman, Clark County Commission Chairman Rory Reid and Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority President Rossi Ralenkotter.

It's worth noting that the proposal dismisses reviving even the old "Nevada rule," under which casinos wouldn't accept wagers on games involving UNLV or UNR. "I believe it would be hypocritical for us to even suggest it," Mr. Goodman said. "We have to be true enough to ourselves."

Mr. Goodman, Mr. Reid and Mr. Ralenkotter took the smart approach. Legal sports betting is an integral part of the Las Vegas experience and a significant contributor to the region's economy -- casinos accepted $635.4 million in college and professional basketball bets last year. Negotiating on this issue would wrongly imply that legalized sports betting is bad -- and would embolden those in Congress seeking to outlaw college sports wagers in Nevada.

Sooner or later, a major professional sports league's desire to tap one of the fastest-growing, most dynamic markets in the nation will trump its concerns over Las Vegas' dominant industry. And that time is fast approaching regardless of whether this latest proposal satisfies the NBA.