Foley, 70, made his fortune forming home title insurer Fidelity National Financial and consolidating the industry. He also owns 14 West Coast wineries.

One scenario is for Foley to buy the money-losing Arizona Coyotes and move them to Las Vegas, a source said.

Earlier this month, Philadelphia hedge fund manager Andrew Barroway reached a deal to acquire a controlling stake in the Coyotes franchise. Barroway sees flipping the team as a good investment, the source added.

NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman’s half brother, Jeffrey Pollack, has been advising Barroway, sources said. Pollack also lives in Las Vegas.

Been telling you that the city will do ANYTHING to get a pro franchise and the offers have been on the table for every sport and teams. Word is, the LV NHL deal is coming!

The Sox were only a handshake deal away!

It might not work cuz LV won't support it, but could we stop worrying that the games will be corrupt cuz gamblers will get to the team?

Look, if gamblers wanted to do that they wouldn't need the team to be in Vegas.

Plus pro players make too much money to throw a game. I would also imagine in hockey you would need to get 5 or 6 guys on the take. So let's say you can get one, no way you'd get 4 or 5 more. And it would have to be the stars of the team who make millions a year anyway.

I know locals stay away from the casinos, at least the big ones.

Q. Is there a season ticket base in the Las Vegas valley that will support this team beyond the snow birds and tourists, or is the NHL in LV destined to become a team like the Coyotes or Panthers that rely too heavily on visiting fans to fill the building? Or is the entire concern overrated?

JOHNSON: That concern is not at all overrated. Bottom line: Any professional team that is relying on the strength of the visiting team schedule and/or tourists to make up for any lack of critical mass of hockey-oriented locals is probably leaving a lot to fall outside their control. It’s naïve and a rationalization. And it will be doomed.

With that said, no one I know has seen a business plan, so I don’t know how they are planning to attack revenues.

As far is a season ticket base, who knows? But I can point to the challenges we had to overcome that lead to midnight games and the like.

Just one example: This is largely a single-industry town, and that industry is hospitality/entertainment. Which means if there are 2.5 million people who live here, one subtracts the demographics that would not be likely customer (not an efficient use of resources), then you look at the nature of their jobs (pay scale) and the shifts they work (Vegas is three-shift city), that population number nets down pretty low for who is available with enough disposable income to see the Las Vegas Whatevers take on the Ottawa Senators on Wednesday. And in any market, the “time commitment” that goes with a ticket plan is becoming the hardest sell.

Yes, it’s the NHL and it’s a big deal. But it’s a bigger deal for those in the NHL than those who are not. So, is it a big enough deal to shoulder its way into enough Las Vegas lives to cause them to change their habits?

Time will tell.

I’m not saying it’s not here. I’m only saying that the challenges here are unique, and it will not at all be, “We brought you the NHL,” and they’ll just have to man the phones and take orders.

Q. Do you think an NHL team needs significant support from the casinos to excel, i.e. having boxes and tickets gobbled up each game for comps?

JOHNSON: They are going to have to get it… it’s the primary industry where all the money is and most of the workforce lives.

I think they will get some of that. The team will have to make compelling arguments to these prospects that taking their prime customers off their properties and away from injecting revenue into their veins is a calculation that works for them. And will they be able to sustain that value for the long term? Ten years? Twenty? Honeymoons don’t last that long. So they’ll have to get ahead of that.

I think there has to be some kind of Chinese wall, or at least the illusion of one. It's why Mike Ilitch owns the Red Wings but Marian Ilitch owns Motor City Casino.