Las Vegas faces uphill fight to win last MLS franchise

Las Vegas faces an uphill struggle to win the race for the last expansion franchise in Major League Soccer.

Not only is Las Vegas’ bid for the MLS team mired in political turmoil over an approved stadium financing plan, the city and its stadium-development partner are competing against two other cities that already have minor-league soccer clubs, ticket-buying fan bases and stadium proposals in place.

The city has combined forces with the Findlay Sports &Entertainment-Cordish Cos. partnership to build a $200 million, 24,000-seat stadium in Symphony Park. The City Council voted 4-3 on Dec. 17 to earmark $56.5 million for Findlay-Cordish and the soccer stadium, which would only get built if MLS picks Las Vegas over Sacramento, Calif., and two groups in Minneapolis.

The city is also giving Findlay-Cordish free land valued at as much as $48 million for the stadium, which only gets built if MLS picks Las Vegas.

But the city’s stadium subsidy deal has stirred political controversy. Councilman Stavros Anthony is running against Mayor Carolyn Goodman because of the stadium subsidy, and Councilman Bob Beers successfully sued the city to place the stadium subsidy on the ballot in June after Clark County District Judge Jerry Wiese ruled in favor of stadium subsidy opponents on Friday.

Even Clark County commissioners entered the fray, upset over a proposed tourism tax district near the stadium that would help pay for a parking garage to serve the venue.

NO CONTROVERSY ELSEWHERE

No such messy politics exist around the MLS bids in Sacramento and Minneapolis, the two cities competing against Las Vegas for MLS’ 24th team.

The Sacramento group already owns a minor-league soccer team with nearly 7,900 season ticket holders, and plans are in place for a privately financed $150 million stadium in a downtown redevelopment area called the rail yards.

The other competitors are two groups in Minneapolis. One is the owner of Minnesota United of the North American Soccer League, while the other is the NFL Minnesota Vikings, which has a new stadium lined up for its football team and the potential MLS club.

Kevin Nagle is the lead investor of the Sacramento Republic Football Club of the USL Professional Division. Sacramento Republic FC has lined up equity and loans to pay for a 20,000-seat soccer stadium at an infill a quarter-mile from the arena being built for the NBA Sacramento Kings.

The Sacramento team has average game attendance of 11,293, including 7,897 season ticket holders, club President Warren Smith said.

Those nearly 7,900 season ticket holders have first crack at MLS tickets, and another 913 have put down $50 MLS ticket deposits, Smith said.

Meanwhile, Findlay-Cordish has not held a season ticket deposit drive to show the market’s viability for an MLS team, though Justin Findlay, managing partner of Findlay Sports, said the group has received “pledges” from Las Vegas fans.

Instead of collecting financial ticket deposits, Findlay-Cordish asked for email, phone contact and zip codes “so we could evaluate where the support was concentrated,” said Dean Howes, a Findlay consultant.

MLS spokesman Dan Cortemanche said the competing cities are not required to hold ticket deposit campaigns to show market viability.

TICKET DRIVE FOR NHL

In contrast in Las Vegas, a group seeking to bring an National Hockey League team to Las Vegas is launching a ticket campaign Tuesday to show NHL brass that Southern Nevada is a viable big-league hockey market.

The Sacramento MLS bid also received a recent boost when San Francisco 49ers owner Jed York and the NBA Kings came on as backers. The Kings are minority investors, while the 49ers will play a bigger role down the road when the soccer stadium is built. The NFL team knows stadiums from opening Levi Stadium last year.

And compared with Las Vegas’ 2 million resident market, the Sacramento market is 2.5 million, and 3.5 million if other cities such as Stockton and Modesto are included. The Minneapolis market is slightly more than 3 million.

In Minneapolis, the owner of Minnesota United, Bill McGuire, is vying for the MLS franchise. McGuire was the former chairman of the UnitedHealth from 1991-2006.

Minnesota United averaged about 6,500 fans per game during a 15-game home schedule at the National Sports Center, a venue owned by the city of Blaine outside Minneapolis.

The team wants to build a downtown Minneapolis soccer stadium near the MLB Minnesota Twins ballpark, but has not pieced together a financing plan. The owners of the MLB Minnesota Twins and the NBA Minnesota Timberwolves are backing the McGuire bid. He was unavailable for comment.

Besides Minnesota United, the NFL Minnesota Vikings are also seeking an MLS club in Minneapolis.

The Vikings have identified their new football stadium as also a potential venue for an MLS team — much like the Atlanta Falcons’ new NFL stadium, which will host a new MLS expansion team.

Vikings Vice President Lester Bagley is handling the NFL team’s MLS initiative, but declined to comment.

NO PUBLIC MONEY IN OTHER CITIES

The Sacramento MLS bid and the two in Minneapolis do not include requests for public money — unlike the Las Vegas efforts.

When it comes to TV market size, Las Vegas also lags behind Sacramento and Minneapolis.

Minneapolis has the biggest TV market of the three contenders areas at 15th, while Sacramento is 20th. Las Vegas ranks a distant 42nd.

Of the three, Las Vegas is the only one without a major league team — so MLS could be the first big-league franchise in Southern Nevada and not have to compete against any other major-league team. Sacramento has the NBA Kings, while metro Minneapolis has teams in MLB, NFL, NBA and NHL.

While Sacramento Republic FC and Minnesota United have established team fan data bases, the Vikings — like the Findlay-Cordish partnership — would be starting soccer clubs from scratch.

Findlay’s family owns a group of car dealerships, while Cordish’s specialty is developing restaurant and entertainment districts near sports venue — not developing a professional team.

But Howes of the Findlay-Cordish group said Las Vegas has caught MLS’ eye.

“Remember the MLS is openly expanding and they like Las Vegas. The NHL is not expanding (formally) and the bar is higher for them to show success,” Howes wrote in an email.

But a Toronto Sun story two months ago reported otherwise. Without citing a source, the newspaper said MLS officials do not consider Las Vegas a serious contender: “Las Vegas, as of MLS Cup weekend, isn’t being discussed as a legitimate candidate among MLS circles.”