Politicians, businessmen, and residents of Las Vegas alike would love to see the dust finally settle on the topic of professional sports teams for the city, but it’s looking as if that’s still a while off. While a Major League Soccer expansion hit a bump in the road, it appears for now that plan is on track for the 0 million stadium in Symphony Park’s tourism district to be built.
Councilmen were on the fence in regards to helping fund the stadium with $56.5 million in taxpayers money, but ultimately voted for it to go through. Much of this plan depends on whether or not the MLS will award Las Vegas with a team. While the league is planning on expanding, Sacramento and Minneapolis are also in the mix for a team.
Some say the math doesn’t quite add up, as a 24,000-seat stadium is expected to draw in an average of 18,000 people per game, of which there are 17 regular season games, with a league-wide average of $17 a ticket. In addition to the cost of a stadium, an expansion fee would cost about $100 million.
On the other hand, an NHL team is rather intriguing, and while NHL commissioner Gary Bettman has given potential owners Bill Foley and the Maloof brothers a green light to sell season ticket deposits, he has neither confirmed or denied whether or not he would grant Las Vegas an expansion team. One plus from a taxpayers standpoint is that Foley and the Maloofs are not asking for a penny of public money for the team, or stadium, which will be owned by MGM Resorts International and leased out.
Foley and the Maloof brothers have a plan in store, which, if successful, would leave them shocked if the NHL does not award them a team. They have helped form a group called The Las Vegas Founding 75, consisting of local business leaders who are each in charge of selling at least 60 season ticket deposits each, which start at $150, and comprise 10% of the total ticket cost. If a team is not awarded, the deposits will all be refunded.
The goal is for 10,000 total season ticket deposits to be sold, and if that number is in fact hit, the ownership group feels the NHL would practically be forced to agree to a Las Vegas expansion. While some feel it may be putting the cart before the horse, there are already talks about the potential team name. Foley particularly likes the Black Knights, but would leave the moniker up to fans in a voting contest.
More interestingly, is that the group seems to be considering using “Nevada” in the team name, as opposed to “Las Vegas”. Similar instances of team names have surfaced over the years, with the Arizona Cardinals of the NFL and the recently renamed Arizona Coyotes of the NHL, who were previously known as the Phoenix Coyotes after the team moved from Winnipeg in 1996. In the case of the Coyotes, the team decided to go with the “Arizona” route after factoring in Glendale being the actual city the team plays in, in addition to being a partner of the hockey club.
The Las Vegas-based hockey team may opt for “Nevada” in the team name in hopes of drawing in fans from outside the Las Vegas metropolitan area. The Maloofs are also no strangers to professional sports, as they owned the Sacramento Kings of the NBA from 1998-2013.
While MGM Resorts International and LA-based AEG have teamed up in developing the state-of-the-art $375 million arena behind the New York-New York casino, set to open in 2016, the MLS stadium, and Symphony Park tourism district seem to be polarizing issues for local politicians. The district has a proposal in place which would see three casinos, 1,800 residential units, and 257,000 square feet of retail space built by the start of 2016.
One area of concern is a potential 1,200 space garage sought out, which would call for $1.5 million in county tax sale tax revenue, and would hinder various critical county services. The plan also calls for $20 million in projected future tax revenue to pay back bonds used to finance the garage.
