Juventus, Real Madrid coming to Las Vegas in August

I absolutely love Las Vegas.

I clearly love the stuffing out of soccer.

Crossing these streams of delight could be bad. Dangerously bad.

(“Try to imagine all life as you know it stopping instantaneously and every molecule in your body exploding at the speed of light. — Dr. Egon Spengler, warning against the dangers of “crossing the streams” in Ghostbusters.)

And yet, it appears these streams will be crossed.

Juventus and Real Madrid, the reigning, recently crowned champions of Italy and Spain, will meet in Sin City in August. It’s the latest in the ever expanding roster of splashy summer friendlies in the States.

This one, specifically, is part of the 2012 World Football Challenge.

Like others, I’ve long wondered if an MLS team might work in Las Vegas? There’s a tremendous immigrant population there, for starters. And there’s a huge value in being “first to market.” That is, while the NFL, NBA and Major League Baseball may have wondered and toyed with the notion of planting one of their flags in Las Vegas, being the first professional team to land in the market provides a big edge in local sponsor dollars, local media and to some extent fan interest.

So, perhaps the Aug. 5 match can add to the Vegas debate.