Finance billionaire Bill Foley will be the owner of the Las Vegas NHL franchise.
Even though the NHL has been approved for a Las Vegas franchise, do not expect NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman to embrace gambling.
In a press conference about the decision to put a franchise in Sin City, Bettman told reporters the decision had everything to do with facilities and fan support, and nothing to do with Vegas’s history as a gambling destination. Bettman said the decision was not a “bellweather”.
In his press conference, Gary Bettman pointed out how little exposure NHL hockey has to the American gambling public. Bettman estimated that only 3% to 5% of sports betting in Las Vegas is done on hockey. He pointed out that NFL football, MLB baseball, and NBA basketball receive a much larger percentage of the action.
More Focused on Arenas and Ownership
Emphasizing the reason for the NHL’s decision, Bettman said, “We don’t worry about the integrity of our game. I’m more focused on the atmosphere in the arena, and that’s something we’re comfortable with going forward.”
Bettman added that the Las Vegas connection might have a challenge or two, but it is something easily solved with a bit of precaution.
He added, “While we know gambling is part of the industry in Las Vegas, we’re not going to make it all that easy for you to pick up a ticket, a gambling ticket, on your way into the arena. We like the atmosphere in our 30 buildings, and we believe that T-Mobile Arena — we can maintain that atmosphere consistent with what the realities are here.”
A New Era in Gambling
A pro sports franchise in Las Vegas is a lot more palatable than it was a generation ago, when the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act (PASPA) was signed into law. At the time, proximity to some of the world’s largest sportsbooks was unseemly in the eyes of the public — and potentially dangerous for the sport.
Mobile Gaming Makes All the Difference
The mobile revolution has changed the equation. In an age when anyone with an Android smartphone or iPhone can gamble on sports, having a brick-and-mortar sportsbook down the street does not seem nearly as extraordinary.
Jay Rood, the VP of Sports and Racing at MGM Grand’s Sportsbook, said of mobile gambling, “You’ve got a sportsbook in your pocket.”
How American Gambling Has Changed
The gambling culture in America is different than it was in 1992, when the PASPA was passed into law. At the time, Nevada and Atlantic City were the only viable gambling opportunities, and Atlantic City did not have sports betting. At the time, tribal gaming had won a landmark US Supreme Court case only 6 years previously, and it was just beginning to be established in the United States. Now, over 250 tribal casinos dot the American landscape, with few spots in the USA which are not within 100 miles of a casino.
Also, state lotteries and the interstate lottery associations have made gambling much more mainstream for Americans. In a time when a large percentage of Americans make certain to wager on the Powerball and Mega Millions lotteries each week, the idea that Las Vegas provides an exotic betting opportunity seems quaint.
Betting on the Las Vegas Aces?
Even though the Las Vegas franchise does not have an official name yet (“Las Vegas Aces” is a favorite), the Las Vegas sportsbooks already have begun taking wagers on the team’s potential success. Station Casinos have the Las Vegas NHL franchise as a +150 underdog to win its first NHL regular season match.
Meanwhile, the Westgate SuperBook posted 100-1 odds that the Las Vegas franchise will win the 2017-2018 Stanley Cup, which is the first season the team will play. Thus, it would seem that Las Vegas already has integrated the NHL’s latest franchise into life in the city.
