Las Vegas Sun

March 29, 2024

5 things the hockey ownership group would need to address

NHL in Las Vegas

Mark Humphrey / AP

Carrie Underwood and Vince Gill perform after the first period of a playoff game between the Nashville Predators and the Anaheim Ducks on Wednesday, April 20, 2011, in Nashville, Tenn.

From its roots as a dusty Western outpost to its current status as America’s gambling capital, Las Vegas has always been a city of clear-cut winners and losers.

Following in that tradition, Bill Foley and the ownership group trying to bring a National Hockey League team to Las Vegas hope to win a championship within a decade.

Many things must happen before then. First and foremost, the NHL would need to approve an expansion team for Foley’s group, Hockey Vision Las Vegas.

The league has been keeping tabs on the group’s season-ticket drive, which has netted more than 8,000 deposits.

Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly told Canada’s Sportsnet last week the league wanted to see how many local, noncorporate fans put up deposit money for season tickets.

"If you look at it through that lens, I think the response has been good," Daly told Sportsnet. "Because if you add to that what they probably have already in corporate and casino commitments, they basically have a full building."

If Las Vegas does get a team, Foley’s group would need to hire a general manager and a coaching staff, plus build a competitive roster. Those aren’t the only things the owners would need to consider.

Here are five things they’ll need to address if the league approves a team in Las Vegas.

    • Traffic

      A Las Vegas team would play at the Strip arena being built by MGM Resorts International and Anschutz Entertainment Group behind New York-New York and next to the Monte Carlo parking garage. Fans could park at MGM properties from Mandalay Bay to Bellagio on game day and walk as far as a mile to the arena.

      In addition, Foley said fans could take buses to and from the arena to avoid the parking garages.

      The bigger issue might be traffic on the Strip and Frank Sinatra Drive, especially during rush hours on weekdays. Traffic routinely backs up on Interstate 15 as well, and it’s not as if arterial roads such as Tropicana Avenue and Flamingo Road offer relief.

      Foley said he doesn’t think traffic will keep fans who live in the suburbs away from games, but an influx of thousands of cars to the area could become a concern.

    • Television

      Under a contract that runs through 2021, some NHL games are shown nationally on NBC and NBCSN. Playoff games appear on those networks as well as CNBC.

      Other games are televised on regional networks, which poses a problem — or an opportunity — for Foley’s group. Las Vegas doesn’t have a regional sports network.

      Most NHL teams in the United States are affiliated with Fox Sports or Comcast networks. Colorado Avalanche games are aired on Altitude Sports and Entertainment, which is owned by the same group that owns the team. The Buffalo Sabres have their own network.

      This is an opportunity for the Foley group to establish an independent sports network to air Las Vegas hockey.

      “We’ll have a TV deal,” Foley said last month. “We don’t know who it’s going to be with yet, but we’ll have a TV deal.”

      He said the network would cover Nevada and possibly Utah. Perhaps UNLV could get on board to get more Rebels games televised.

    • Star power

      When the NHL added a team in Nashville, skeptics said it wouldn’t work because the Tennessee city wasn’t a traditional hockey market.

      But the Predators’ ownership made a wise move early on, using the star power of the country music industry to help the team connect with fans.

      Amy Grant appeared on billboards holding a hockey stick with teeth blacked out. Barbara Mandrell, a member of the Country Music Hall of Fame, has been a season-ticket holder from the beginning. Vince Gill and Dierks Bentley are regulars, as well.

      Wynonna Judd, Martina McBride and Carrie Underwood, who is married to Nashville forward Mike Fisher, have performed mini-concerts during intermissions.

      This season, the Central Division-leading Predators are averaging 16,774 fans in 32 home games, or 98 percent of their arena’s capacity.

      A Las Vegas team could use Sin City’s considerable star power in the same way. Imagine Rod Stewart singing the national anthem or Cirque du Soleil acts performing between periods.

    • Expectations

      Foley has said he wants his team to win a Stanley Cup championship in seven or eight years of launching the franchise. That will be a tall task.

      The nine expansion teams that have joined the league since 1991 have combined for two titles and five appearances in the finals.

      The Tampa Bay Lightning won the Stanley Cup in their 12th season; the Anaheim Ducks won in their 14th.

      In 1995-96, the Florida Panthers made it to the finals in their third season, but they’ve made the playoffs only three times since.

      The Atlanta/Winnipeg franchise has made the playoffs once in 14 seasons.

      Foley said he wants to pattern his team after the San Jose Sharks, ranked by Forbes as the league’s 14th-most-valuable franchise. The Sharks, who joined the league in 1991, have made the playoffs in 15 of the past 16 seasons but have never reached the finals.

    • Gambling

      A Las Vegas team’s games could be taken off the betting board at sports books to avoid problems, but that decision would me made by gaming control regulators and the NHL.

      Based on what Daly told the Minneapolis Star-Tribune in November, the league would consider that. Foley has repeatedly declined to comment on gambling, referring questions to the league.

      “You don’t want guys in the stands with bet tickets in their hands and the only reason they’re watching the game is so they can cash in on a bet afterwards,” Daly told the Tribune. “That’s not an environment you want to foster or create as a professional sports league.”

      Veteran bookmaker Jimmy Vaccaro of the South Point said bets on the NHL account for 0.5 to 1 percent of the sports book’s annual take. So taking a Las Vegas team’s games off the board wouldn’t affect sports books much.

    Brian Deka can be reached at 702-259-4073 or [email protected]. Follow Brian on Twitter at twitter.com/briandeka.

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