Florida billionaire Bill Foley is calling on hockey fans in and around Las Vegas to show NHL commissioner Gary Bettman just how serious the city is about wanting their own hockey team. The hope is for 10,000 season tickets to be sold between February and March, a number Foley feels will force the NHL to grant Las Vegas a team.
Foley’s efforts began in late 2013 after Maloof brothers Gavin and Joe contacted him about a potential hockey club in Las Vegas. His ownership share with the Maloofs will either be 60/40 or 66/33. In December, Bettman gave the nod to Foley for his pursuit of season ticket sales.
Foley joins forces with the two Maloof brothers, California consultant Tony Guanci, and Peter Sadowski, Fidelity National Financial executive vice president and chief legal officer, a group Foley refers to as “The Gang of Five.” The goal was for the group to create a launch committee called the Las Vegas Founding 50, who’s number currently sits at 68, with 100 members in sight.
The hope is for all 100 people to sell 60 season ticket deposits a piece, which would come to 6,000 plans in total, leaving only 4,000 to sell. “If we sell the 10,000 tickets, we’ll be amazed if we don’t get a franchise,” Foley said. The ticket deposits will go for $150 to $900, or roughly 10% of the season ticket deal. Individual game tickets would range from $20 to $220. The average NHL ticket is $63.
This isn’t just some wild, far-fetched idea either. In fact, the NHL has given the group permission to use its logo for the ticket campaign. There will also be a call center opened with hired ticket sales staffers, with both billboard and digital ads. The team is set to play in the $375 million arena being built by MGM Resorts and Anschutz Entertainment Group behind New York-New York and next to Monte Carlo.
After a lunch with MGM Resorts International CEO Jim Murren, Foley sat in a mock suite inside New York-New York, where a video showed the views inside the arena, set to hold 18,000 seats for hockey. The video showed the arena floor morph from a boxing ring to a hockey rink, and eventually a basketball court. Foley was blown away. “This is a no-brainer. Look at this,” he said. “This is more than I expected.”
William Boyd, Boyd Gaming chairman and CEO, who is also one of the Founding 50, is confident Las Vegas has enough fans to support a team. “We have a fan base interested in hockey,” Boyd said, adding many residents of Las Vegas are transplants from Midwest and East hockey markets.
Foley also said there would be a contest to pick a name for the club. The names leading the way currently are the Black Knights, Scorpions, and Rattlers.
