| | |  | Last Updated: Tuesday, June 19, 2007 |  | | | Hornets Discuss Relocating to US Gambling Capital
- Monday, 26 Sep 2005
In Las Vegas, sports gambling is permissible by law. David Stern, the NBA commissioner has been adamant in his resistance to grant Las Vegas a franchise given it affiliation with gambling and sports gambling in particular. Despite Stern’s objection to place a team in Sin City, he has agreed to host the 2007 all star game in Vegas. For the game to be hosted in Vegas, the sportsbooks that engage in sports gambling have agreed not to accept bets on the game. However, this is one isolated game and it’s hard to imagine the gambling establishments running out of Vegas not to allow gambling for an entire season.
Hurricane Katrina that has demolished the Gulf coast of the US has also caused two professional sports teams to relocate. The New Orleans Saints of the NFL and the New Orleans Hornets of the NBA have been forced to find new stadiums to host their home games. While NFL has arranged for the Saints to play some of their games in San Antonio and the rest in Baton Rouge, a similar solution for the Hornets hasn’t been reached yet. Recently, there have been some talks to relocate the New Orleans Hornets of the NBA in Las Vegas, the gambling capital of the world.
Over the last weeks, Hornets’ owner, George Shinn, has discussed the matter with city officials a number of times. However, no agreement has been reached as of yet. Gambling remains as the major sticking point in the discussions. During the NBA regular season each team plays 82 games (excluding playoffs) out of which 41 are home games. It’s not realistic to expect from the legalized gambling facilities under Nevada’s jurisdiction not to allow gambling on the team’s home games. | |
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