Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

Lights FC promises fan experience that’s bolder than ever for soccer team’s third season

Las Vegas Lights FC Hold Tryouts

Ricardo Torres-Cortez

A Las Vegas Lights FC support group gathers at Cashman Field for an open-house and team tryout on Jan. 11, 2020. (Ricardo Torres-Cortez / Las Vegas Sun)

An image of the scarf-wearing crew reflects off Michael Denman’s aviator shades as soccer chants erupt from the Cashman Field bleachers on a crisp Saturday morning. It’s mid-January, two months before the Las Vegas Lights kick off their third season in the United Soccer League, and the team’s most faithful followers have already shown up—for an open house.

Las Vegas Lights FC Hold Tryouts

Michael Denman, a Las Vegas Lights FC season ticket holder, watches a support group cheer on tryout participants during an open-house at Cashman Field on Jan. 11, 2020.   (Ricardo Torres-Cortez / Las Vegas Sun) Launch slideshow »

Denman, who sports the team’s yellow and blue colors on feathers attached to his bolero hat, is among a handful of season-ticket holders selecting their seats for the season ahead. Others, like the crew across the way, are cheering on hundreds of young athletes spread across the pitch for open tryouts. As coach Eric Wynalda runs prospective players through drills, the fan group rains down bass thuds, snare clacks and trumpet puffs, fine-tuning the techniques they’ll utilize for 17 regular-season home games starting March 14 against Sacramento.

“The key is really to just come down and enjoy it,” Denman says. “It’s another piece of our Las Vegas community, no different than the Knights, the Aces or the Aviators. If people don’t show up, the team goes away. We want them to stay here.”

Denman can probably rest easy on that front. Lights owner and CEO Brett Lashbrook says fan reaction has eclipsed expectations during the first two seasons. He points out that the Lights’ average of 8,000-plus fans per game ranks fourth among the USL’s 35 active franchises.

Lashbrook has emphasized the fan experience while keeping tickets affordable, the key to keeping what he calls “the people’s sport” thriving in Southern Nevada. Season-ticket prices actually went down this year and start at $200, which includes an official Lights jersey that retails at $80.

That sort of value helped turn Denman into a soccer fan. The college history instructor, who describes himself as a nerdy, arty theater kid, says he began taking an interest in the sport just as the team arrived in Las Vegas. Denman followed from afar during the first season, then attended a few games last year, when he became hooked and sprung for 2020 season tickets.

He says he likes to arrive 45 minutes before the first whistle, often attending with his father so they can “take in the atmosphere” outside the stadium. Each game includes a fan fiesta boasting live music, food and games for children.

The excitement increases inside, where pregame ceremonies include appearances by the team llamas—Dollie and Dottie—and the motorcycle-riding, Elvis-impersonator mascot, Cash the Soccer Rocker. The Lights regularly schedule fireworks shows and have even hosted helicopter cash drops for fans the past two seasons.

Lashbrook promises even wilder promotions this season, describing his plans as “bigger, better and bolder, with more swagger and moxie—and a whole lot of confetti.”

Once the teams hit the field, fans get a taste of what it’s like to watch a match in soccer hotbeds like Mexico City, London or Buenos Aires, Argentina, surrounded by exhilarated fans and enveloped by colorful smoke. With so many other sports options now available in Las Vegas, Lashbrook says the Lights have to be aggressive in carving their own niche. He can’t promise wins on the field—though he expects an improvement from last year’s 11-15-8 record—but he says he can guarantee smiling faces off of it.

Even on a chilly day in January, the family atmosphere at Cashman is evident. Cash the mascot is high-fiving children. A few fans not banging on drums are waving oversized flags.

Jenny Garst is taking it all in. She says she used to dislike soccer enough to make fun of it, but everything changed when she went to a Lights game. Now she’s known for dragging along friends—like Patrick Hawkinson and Roberta Ward, who have joined Garst to watch tryouts.

Even if you haven’t been turned on to soccer yet, they say, Lights games are an event in their own right. “Why wouldn’t you come down?” Garst asks.

This story appeared in Las Vegas Weekly.