Las Vegas looking to get MLS team
By Jack Maloney
Las Vegas–despite many efforts–is still without a major professional sports team. Sure there are the Las Vegas 51s, a minor league baseball team, and the Las Vegas Wranglers, a minor league hockey team, but I’m talking about one of the U.S.’s major sports–NFL, MLB, NBA, NHL and, I guess, Major League Soccer.
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The main reason of course, being that Las Vegas is a prominent hub for gambling, and the last thing any major sport wants is a betting scandal involving players, referees, coaches or league officials.
Well according to new reports, Las Vegas is making yet another push to have its first professional sports franchise. The city has plans to build a brand new soccer stadium, and as such are looking to get an MLS franchise to play in it.
This, from NBC’s Pro Soccer Talk
"In the past few weeks we have heard about plans for a soccer-specific stadium to be built in downtown Vegas and now the company planning to build a stunning new facility, at Symphony Park, have been given more time to finalize their design and get this thing off the ground. We brought you the news of Vegas officials and MLS being in discussions last week and that has helped to keep this project going and give planners extra time to build what looks like a stunning venue.This summer Vegas already boasts a PDL side, the wonderfully named Las Vegas Mobsters, and the development group behind this proposed venue have their sights set on an MLS franchise. Cordish Companies and Findlay Sports and Entertainment Group switched their focus to building an MLS stadium downtown after MGM resorts broke ground on a new arena earlier this month."
The MLS currently has 19 teams, and four more–New York, Orlando, Atlanta and Miami–are set to join in the next few years. It stands to reason that the league would want one more team to make an even number, and that could be where Las Vegas jumps in.