Big Ten media days coming to Las Vegas
- Thread starter bcvegaspt2
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Great time to end media days by announcing Unlv to the big ten.
Media days should only be allowed through a negotiation that includes the Big playing a home and away football game against UNLV so that we get to play some big time draw games! Would love to see UNLV get to play Michigan, Penn State, or Ohio State at home.
I like to see UNLV play teams like Indiana, Rutgers, Iowa, Wisconsin, Nebraska right now and then in few years get home home with PSU/OSU and Michigan types, have to build the depth.
I went to an Iowa game at Wrigley vs Northwestern two seasons ago and am going to an Iowa game in Iowa this coming season vs Oregon not sure why Im subjecting myself to this, but wanting to see Iowa play a football game is only slightly better than watching the day shift strippers at the Whats Up lounge on Boulder Highway, with all due respect since I know its no longer in business and Im sure many of those ladies are no longer with us.
You guys want me to crash the party with “UNLV to Big 1” signs???
Iowa fans travel, nice folks at MD! U get teams that bring 20k to vegas, casinos will make the investment in UNLV!
That really is what it boils down to. Vegas pays a fortune to attract visitors. The city as a whole needs to realize a small investment in UNLV athletics could mean a ton of revenue with a p4 invite. When it comes to UNLV, they need to look at Allegiant stadium as another convention center.
I shouldn’t have posted this on a board where Scrub has access. I will take full responsibility for whatever happens at this event.
You can wave to the kids in the children's hospital. That's about the only reason I'd go, one of the better traditions in college football.
Actually it was Centerfold vs. What's Up, as they were both similar crack dens and across the street from eachother. Centerfold was especially awesome, about as big as your living room. RIP to both of those legends.
Nothing like being knuckle deep during a lap dance at Centerfold and the stripper passes out.
IMO this is spot on and why the Resort Assn and Gaming have taken an interest in UNLV football. They can foresee exactly what you point out. If the event (UNLV football) can bring in 20,000 visitors for a given weekend they are all in. I remember Wisconsin bringing 20k plus to Sam Boyd. That would happen every UNLV home game in the Big 12.
I have mentioned the casino’s getting involved in NIL and some here laughed at the notion.
Some said why would the casino’s get involved, they don’t need UNLV?
Well now the doubters can see the benefit is there for both sides is there.
If this happened, UNLV could probably pick their new P4 conference affiliation.
A casino NIL collective would put UNLV football, men’s and women’s basketball and baseball in a new light!
Some said why would the casino’s get involved, they don’t need UNLV?
Well now the doubters can see the benefit is there for both sides is there.
If this happened, UNLV could probably pick their new P4 conference affiliation.
A casino NIL collective would put UNLV football, men’s and women’s basketball and baseball in a new light!
It's basically the same model for the Raiders and the only reason why Allegiant made any sense to begin with. If it was only locals, they'd be getting UNLV size crowds if that. Travelling fans from other parts will always come to Vegas en masse i.e. Wisconsin. It could have been done a long time ago before NIL, but Steve Wynn hated UNLV and never lifted a finger. at least they are starting to buy a clue now.
I never got the whole story about Wynn but was he jealous of Tark or did have real beef against UNLV in general?
He hated Tark. He was the king of Vegas and Tark came to town and took that crown from him.
Also, he's an awful human being. But that's another story I guess.
When I first moved here in the 70's everyone already knew who Tarkanian was, but nobody in this town had a clue who Steve Wynn was outside of some people in the casino industry, so it would be hard for me to understand how Wynn could have been King of Vegas? Wynn didn't even become a majority owner of the Golden Nugget until 1973 (at this time it was a very small downtown Casino, and didn't really become a name player in town until the Golden Nugget was sold in 1987 and he was able to develop the Wynn Hotel and Casino. By the time Wynn became a big name in Las Vegas, Tarkanian had already been a big name in Las Vegas since he came to UNLV in 1973 which was 14 years before. Tarkanian had his first big run in the NCAA tournament in 1975. By this time he was already King of Las Vegas along with Wayne Newton and Frank Sinatra while Wynn was barely a blip in Las Vegas.
Wynn was known in the 70s but agree Tark was more popular. Wynn hated Tark because he wanted to change the Las Vegas image from being seedy and mobster controlled to something more corporate and clean cut because he knew there was money to be made by doing that and he would be primary beneficiary of that. The Mirage was the first casino to really start the change from the old Vegas to the new Vegas and Wynn felt Tark and his reputation got in the middle of that. Not defending Wynn in any way, he was a total ass hat, but just explaining his thinking.
My family was heavily involved in the upper levels of the casino industry, and almost everyone in the 70's and prior had some connection or involvement with the mob. Many of my friends in high school had family members directly tied to local mob leaders. Where do you think Wynn got the money to buy into the Golden Nugget from being a dealer with very little money of his own?
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I worked with the GCB in 1989 to early 90's and although I wasn't involved in his investigation by direct supervisor was and so I knew a little background from him. i got to tour the Mirage before it opened as part of my training when they finalized his license for the Mirage. There was never any evidence of Wynn with the mob. He came from money, his Dad owned businesses in NY and elsewhere and Wynn had various real estate investments in NY and LV that he sold to buy a small ownership in the Frontier before he bought the Mirage. He used profits from those sales to buy the GN interest.
The original Golden Nugget was built by Guy McAfee who was directly tied to the mob. Had family that worked in the downtown casinos, including the Golden Nugget, and it had connections to the mob into the 70's. Had family back in the 70's involved in both Strip and Downtown Casino's back in the 70's, which was a completely different world from 1990's. Many of the casino's had strong mob ties, and it was just part of growing up in Las Vegas. While growing up in Las Vegas, everyone I know, many of them children of Casino execs and owners openly talked about the connections, and nothing I ever heard would change my mind. When you have family that have lived in Las Vegas back into the 50's, you see a lot of history get changed and covered up as this town went from a Mob town to a corporate town. But, you are correct that I can't give any specific proof to what was considered common knowledge while growing up in Las Vegas.
As a side note, Steve Wynn did make an investment in the New Frontier in 1967 in which he was provided $30,000 from an acquaintance/friend and $30,000 from a Las Vegas Bank (I am not sure where you got that Steve Wynn used any of his own money for this investment?). This gave him a 3% ownership in the New Frontier which from what I understand didn't include any of his own money being invested in the stock purchase. It was also very interesting that he made the investment in early 1967 and by late 1967 had already flipped the investment with the rest of his partners when the New Frontier was sold to Howard Hughes. I believe this was also done without any regulatory requirements since Howard Hughes already had control of other casinos by that time.
Also, in regards to his dad owning businesses in NY and elsewhere, where did that come from? His dad died in 1963 and was $350,000 in debt from gambling, while his bingo parlors were losing money at the time, so his dad didn't give or loan him any money at all. As for bingo parlors being legal at the time in NY, I have no clue if they were or were not legal? I will give Wynn credit that he was able to pay off the debt and ultimately has become very rich over the next 40+ years.
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Tark took over Steve's favorite table at Piero's. And was the guy who was all of a sudden, out of nowhere getting 18k locals into his brand new T&M venue, while the blind squirrel was scrambling to find 1k guests to come to his Dionne Warwick show. I mean, I know it sounds stupid.
Funny thing is, Tark was a low ego, regular Joe. That’s why he didn’t have a problem hiring really good assistants and delegating responsibilities to them.
Steve W had a giant ego. So did Maxson and Finfrock. Do you remember how Maxson and Steve tried to dominate the media interviews in 1990? They were on as much as Tark.
Tark was - everybody get on the same page, let’s do what we have to do and win. And it worked. And that pissed them off. It really had to piss them off that a guy that wanted no credit for success had the biggest success.
The original GN was before my time and even Wynn was I am just going by memory from the lead investigator who I know for certain would never cover anything up. Part of the investigation is auditing tax returns and bank statements and matching as well as tracing funds. And I recall that Wynn invested in real estate and that those funds came from his Dad businesses (which I don’t recall what the business was but you said bingo parlors so will go with that). That he used some funds from that as well as bank loan to buy Frontier interest and sold that and RE to get GN interest.
Anytime you buy a new casino you have to get a license for that casino even if you own others but in 1967 who knows how detailed that was. I do know many casinos the owners had rumors of mob involvement and in some cases strong circumstantial evidence (Paul Lowden and the Sahara and Frank Fertitta Jr) but Wynn was never one where there was any evidence circumstantial or otherwise at least in investigation files. And those files were always complete it is just sometimes the evidence stayed and died there. So you may very well be right about Wynn just saying the Board never had evidence of it. And yes cover up absolutely existed including in the 90s I was told to back off on Fertitta, Sport of Kings which was a proposed casino at the old Alexis Hotel site as well as two Riviera execs. Thanks to the crooked Bob Miller.
