Never mind that it’s one of the biggest weekends in Sin City, the National Football League continues to stick its fingers in its ears when it comes to casinos that dare whisper the words 
“Super Bowl.” Not only must Las Vegas hide behind the “Big Game” euphemism when promoting Super Bowl-related events, if they show aforesaid large-scale game on TV screens that exceed 55 inches, the NFL is prepared to make trouble.
While the league might more sensibly opt for a piece of the action, which included a $119 million wagering pool last year, it prefers to pretend Las Vegas doesn’t exist. It’s missing out on a big slice of pie. According to the American Gaming Association, $3.8 billion will be bet illegally on the Super Bowl, dwarfing legal wagers into insignificance. You’d think the NFL would want an extra-large helping of that gravy, but its stance continues to confound reason.
* Of course, you don’t want to go the route of a Bloomington, Minnesota, man who was recently convicted on money-laundering charges connected to running an illegal bookmaking operation. While much of Gerald Greenfield‘s action was generated in the Fargo-Moorehead area, he was taking bets from as far away as Australia. A previous mortgage-fraud conviction makes Greenfield a two-time loser.
* Now that they’re approved, the Tohono O’odham Nation is well underway with what will be Arizona‘s biggest casino, in the Phoenix area. It will boast 1,000 slots and an equal
number of bingo seats and parking places. Tribal leaders say the project, which will pay Glendale $26 million a year for 20 years, will have the economic impact of a biennial Super Bowl, a prediction made long before it was known Phoenix would host the game. West Valley Resort will require 6,000 construction workers, open with an employee base of 300 and gradually ramp that up to 3,000. The Tohono O’odham’s plans are nothing if not ambitious: “a casino with 150,000-square-feet of gaming space, a 600-room resort hotel, a 3-acre enclosed atrium, event center, restaurants, spas, retail outlets, and other amenities.” If West Valley Resort gets the projected 1.2 million visitors a year, it could certainly make good on its promise to the Phoenix area.
