The NHL’s Board of Governors on June 22 formally awarded an NHL expansion franchise to Las Vegas, give the city its first major professional sports team.
The Board of Governors met in Las Vegas, and NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman made the announcement that afternoon.
Entrepreneur Bill Foley will have to pay a $500 million franchise fee to the NHL and can begin preparing for the team’s inaugural season 2017-18 at T-Mobile Arena.
Foley is a West Point graduate, and early suggestions for a team name is the Black Knights.
At 2.2. million residents, the Las Vegas Valley was the nation’s largest population base that lacked a major professional sports franchise.
It currently has a minor league baseball team, hosts the NBA Summer League, and regularly hosts NBA exhibition games. The city also regularly hosts the annual NHL Awards show, and formerly hosted semi-pro hockey.
Foley previously announced securing some 14,000 deposits for season tickets and sold out 44 suits, making it likely the team will sell out the T-Mobile Arena’s 17,500 available hockey seats.
It also adds about 50 annual events for T-Mobile, when considering home matches, preseason hockey, possible playoff games, and a likely NHL All-Star bid in the near future.
T-Mobile Arena partner Anschutz Entertainment Group owns the Los Angeles Kings and previously announced the Kings would play two outdoor hockey matches at T-Mobile Arena.
Securing the NHL team has drawn a lot of attention to Las Vegas and its efforts to ensure legal sports betting remains transparent and has no effect on sporting events held in Nevada.
NFL Oakland Raiders owner Mark Davis wants to bring his professional football team to Las Vegas, if a 65,000-seat stadium with a retractable roof is built and 24 team owners okay it. It also requires overcoming the NFL’s traditional hands-off approach to Las Vegas and its casinos and sportsbooks.
But the NFL’s resolve is weakening as gaming becomes a more mainstream industry across the nation, the rise of daily fantasy sports is boosting NFL revenues, and legal sportsbooks having virtually no impact on the outcomes of sporting events.
The American Gaming Association also recently issued a report indicating 19 NFL stadiums are located within 20 minutes of a casino, and every team plays games no more than an hour from a legal gaming operation.
The NFL, like all sports leagues, bans its players for betting on games, and has an informal policy of encouraging its players not to accept pay for organized events held at or involving casinos.
For Las Vegas, the transition from Sin City gambling Mecca into a more diversified, family-friendly, and events-oriented destination has been gradual.
Years ago, the NCAA would not allow sanctioned games at Las Vegas casinos. Any games played anywhere other than UNLV had to be played at local high schools.
Now, Las Vegas hosts several annual NCAA men’s and women’s basketball tournaments, including several conference championship tournaments, and a post-season tournament. The city’s sportsbooks mostly take action on the games, but some will not post lines on games hosted at the same property.
NBA Commissioner Adam Silver recently opined that Las Vegas might be a good location for a future NBA team.
During a recent appearance on The Dan Patrick Show, Silver said the NBA has no plans to expand, but it’s keeping an eye on Las Vegas.
Its population of 2.2 million, proximity to Southern California and Phoenix, and anticipated 43 million visitors this year are very appealing to the NBA, Silver said.
He he’s concerned the local TV market might be too small, given most of the state’s population in located in Clark County, and the NBA needs to know a city can sell at least 10,000 season tickets to succeed.
Given Foley’s success in securing 14,000 season tickets for what was no more than an idea, the ability to secure at least as many deposits for an NBA team at T-Mobile Arena likely is a certainty – particularly given the NBA is more popular than the NHL.
Silver said the city’s ability to attract 250,000 tourists every week also helps bolster confidence Las Vegas could support an NBA team and consistently sell out T-Mobile Arena’s 20,000 seats.
Even Major League Baseball is starting to say Las Vegas might, someday, have its own professional team. The city already hosts Cactus League games every spring.
Beyond Las Vegas, the city’s emergence as a professional sports city is compelling a national discussion on legalizing sports betting in more and possibly all states.
Aiding in that effort is the rising popularity of paid daily fantasy sports and effort to legalize that in many states, including Nevada.
Across the nation, polls show about 90 percent of voters approve of legal casino gaming, yet more than 90 percent of all sports betting occurs in illegal and unregulated venues outside of Nevada.
The only other state currently allowing legal sports betting is Delaware, but only on a limited basis.
With more than 90 percent of sports betting being done outside of licensed and regulated sportsbooks and daily fantasy sports proving highly popular, many states have eased their stance against sports betting and are eyeing potential legalization and increased revenues.
Many state lawmakers across the nation realize sports wagering has been around since sports first were conceived, and continuing to resist legalization efforts is costing them money, while keeping control in the hands of illegal and unregulated operators outside of Nevada and Delaware.
At the federal level, support also is growing for legalizing and regulating sports betting.
As MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred recently opined, the proliferation of casino gaming across the United States means Las Vegas no longer is a pariah for professional sports leagues.
Neither, it would seem, is licensed and regulated sports betting.
