"Gambling has become part of the legal entertainment options in more than half the states in our country," DuPuy said. "However, Nevada still is the only state with a legal sports book, which is an issue for us and one we continue to discuss."
During the Sept. 12 meeting, McHale asked how baseball could reconcile putting a team in Las Vegas at the same time Selig was maintaining a lifetime ban on former Cincinnati Reds player and manager Pete Rose for betting on baseball.
Las Vegas, Nevada.
(Ethan Miller -- Reuters)
|
_____Gallery_____
•
The District has been without major league baseball for more than 30 years. Look back at a visual history of the Washington Senators.
|
| |
|
"It's easy," one of the participants joked. "Just make him the manager."
With the downtown site no longer under consideration, Vegas advocates are now pushing a parking lot behind the Paris, Bally's and Aladdin hotels/casinos as the potential site for the Expos. The parking lot is owned by Caesar's Entertainment, the owner of Caesar's Palace, and, because it sits on the Vegas Strip, is outside of Goodman's jurisdiction.
Shapiro, who continues to head the Vegas bid, said no gambling would take place in the proposed stadium. The stadium owners, he said, would merely lease the site from Caesar's.
Because the stadium would be privately financed, the owners would need not only the Expos but also some 180 to 200 dates of other events to make the deal work economically. "It doesn't pencil out," said a businessman who has followed the negotiations from the beginning. "There's absolutely no there there."
MLB had hoped to announce a decision during quarterly owners meetings Aug. 18-19 in Philadelphia. League officials said that timetable now appears unlikely. Selig has said only that he would like to resolve the Expos matter sometime this summer.
"Given the number of candidates and the number of moving pieces, we want to get it right and provide the best opportunity for a successful franchise," DuPuy said.
Baseball officials contend the competition remains wide open. They said the decision has been complicated not only by the Orioles issue but also the inability of all the bidders, including D.C. and Northern Virginia, to put forward a completed financing plan to build a new ballpark that baseball has made a pre-condition for relocation.
Shapiro said he believes Las Vegas remains a strong candidate.
"I came in as a skeptic," he said. "And I have no doubt now that a team will be successful there."
Researcher Julie Tate contributed to this report.
