Forget the Tim Donaghy betting scandal and the NBA All-Star Game fiasco. Although some had opined that either or both of those things would stymie Las Vegas in landing a pro sports franchise, in the end they'll be merely blips on the radar screen. And the issue of legal sports wagering won't matter, either.

A major development was announced yesterday that, I think, almost guarantees that Vegas will have at least one if not two sports franchises by the end of the decade. Harrah's Entertainment and AEG, two heavyweights in the sports entertainment industry, announced a joint venture to build a $500 million 20,000-seat arena just east of the Las Vegas Strip (behind the Paris and Bally's casinos shown at right). It could be completed by 2010. This comes down to what are the most important things in sports (money) and in real estate (location).

Harrah's, which is being taken private by a pair of equity investment firms in a $17-plus billion deal, has been accumulating an impressive stretch of contiguous properties along the east side of Las Vegas Boulevard, running from the Paris casino to the south to the Harrah's Las Vegas to the north. In between are Bally's, the old Barbary Coast (now Bill's), the Imperial Palace, O'Shea's and the Flamingo. Across the street is another little place they own called Caesars Palace. AEG, a subsidiary of Denver billionaire Phillip Anschutz, owns the Los Angeles Galaxy soccer team (David Beckham), the Staples Center in L.A. and brought Celine Dion and Bette Midler into Caesars Palace's big theater on the Strip. 

Until now, talk in Vegas has been about a downtown arena. Now, it's near the Strip within walking distance, a short cab ride and along a monorail route from 200,000 hotel rooms -- more by 2010. This is the stuff that will make league officials and owners light up like the Vegas night sky.

Photo credit: Francine Orr/LAT