While an NFL team in Las Vegas may not be a welcome idea to some NFL owners, Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones is not included in their ranks.
Jerry Jones is in favor of the idea of an NFL team in Las Vegas. He says the entertainment aspect outweighs gambling concerns
— Clarence Hill Jr (@clarencehilljr) May 11, 2016
ESPN’s Todd Archer added that “Jones would welcome a discussion of having Las Vegas becoming a home for an NFL team. Jones said the gambling aspect of the city holds no ‘disfavor’ for Jones in considering whether a team would move there.”
Logically speaking, it’s foolish to discount Las Vegas just because of the prevalence of sports betting. The Vegas metro area has nearly 2 million people living in it, and that’s before we factor in the abundance of tourists that are in the town every day of the year. The tourism number would only increase with an NFL team. Can you imagine how many visiting fans would take a weekend trip to Vegas capped off by seeing their team play on Sunday?
Additionally, Las Vegas has other elements working in its favor. Obviously the city has plenty of people with a lot of money, which would make funding for a stadium easier than it would be in most cities. Better still, its location in the middle of the desert provides plenty of space for a stadium with ample parking, similar to what the Arizona Cardinals have.
Lastly, while no team in any of the four major American professional sports leagues has ever made Las Vegas its home, sports betting has certainly been an issue in the past. Given that it’s been an issue when Vegas was not a home, it doesn’t make sense to keep a team out of the city just because of the ease and legality of betting. If players are going to do this, they’ll do so with or without Vegas.
So, while Jerry Jones may have some opposition, he’s on the right side of this argument.