The Pittsburgh Penguins and the Isle of Capri are using both the carrot and the stick in their bid for Pittsburgh's sole casino license.

The carrot: Award us the license and we'll build a new arena so the city can keep hosting the circus, monster trucks, Paul McCartney and Disney on Ice. The stick: Don't give us the license, and Pittsburgh can kiss its hockey team goodbye.

If that sounds like an offer worthy of "The Godfather," it is certainly one that people are finding hard to refuse. Fans have rallied for it, 18 public officials lined up behind it and Post-Gazette letter writers have been weighing in heavily in support. Even Pirates owner Kevin McClatchy has thrown his support behind Isle of Capri.

We're not quite ready to join them. There is a long way to go in this process -- the state Gaming Control Board is expected to announce its decision late this year or early next year -- and much to scrutinize in the city's three competing casino proposals. The Harrah's/Forest City Enterprises team recently claimed its Station Square casino would produce $120 million more in annual tax revenue than Isle of Capri. Detroit businessman Don Barden claims his more modest North Shore proposal is the only realistic one, and that development plans put forward by the other two are a "smokescreen." There is reason to doubt both claims, but they still warrant examination.

We'll say this, however: Harrah's/Forest City and Mr. Barden should amend their plans to direct funding to build Pittsburgh a new arena. And the Gaming Control Board should look unkindly on proposals that fail to include such revenue. The city's need and opportunity to get a privately funded arena from the gambling license is simply too good to pass up.

The most obvious reason is that a new arena would -- presumably, anyway -- keep the Penguins here. The team has long been saying that without a new facility it would leave when its lease expires in 2007, and the fact that the team is up for sale shows that that is no empty threat. And having a hockey franchise is a boost both to Pittsburgh's economy and to its national profile.

The other reason is that Mellon Arena will be due for replacement in the not-too-distant future, hockey or no hockey. It opened in 1961 and has been the NHL's oldest arena since 1999. It's decline has been bandied about for a decade, and the last renovation, in 1997, was intended to keep it functional for only 10 years.

Stories about the NCAA basketball tournament and major concert tours skipping Pittsburgh because of the arena's flaws have been generally debunked, but how much longer will that be true? Pittsburgh will need a new arena eventually.

Two years ago, the only conceivable way to achieve that was through massive commitments of public money, anathema to the strapped city, county and state. Now it's being offered for the mere price of a casino license.

The Penguins and the Isle of Capri are pledging to address one of the city's greatest needs -- and are also, of course, promising the casino, the surrounding development and the tax revenue that are expected of any casino applicant.

If the other applicants want to stay in the game, they should address that need as well.