“First, the placement of the first major professional sports franchise in Las Vegas reflects a rapidly evolving view of gaming as an important, mainstream segment of the broader economy that supports 1.7 million jobs and serves as a community partner in 40 states”.
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NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman made the announcement after the league’s Board of Governors voted unanimously in favor of the proposal during a meeting in Las Vegas. The NHL hasn’t added a team since 2000.
Vegas owner Bill Foley said he wants to promote youth hockey and the team’s practice facility will “be open to all”. The team has already received more than 14,000 deposits for season tickets, and its luxury seats are already sold out.
The move to Las Vegas completes a longtime relationship with the city and the National Hockey League.
“With all of the hype and buzz and electricity towards us getting a team, we wanted to pounce right away”, said Chuck Esposito, sports book director at Sunset Station.
The Las Vegas franchise then will select third in each subsequent round of the 2017 NHL Draft (subject to trades and other potential player transactions). Members of the Maloof family, which once owned basketball’s Sacramento Kings and the Palms Casino Resort just off the Vegas Strip, are investing alongside Foley.
Foleys bid had the enormous advantage of an NHL-ready arena built with private funding and eager for a flagship tenant.
We wont sell out every game with season ticket holders, but I believe its going to be 85 percent, 90 percent (filled by season ticket holders), Foley said.
While the owners gain financially from the expansion, the hockey operations departments around the league will feel a little pain, with the expansion draft set for next June.
The Sharks will have a new division rival beginning with the 2017-18 season.
The NHL will keep the same game format despite the expansion. Foley announced plans to devote considerable resources to building community interest in youth hockey, including a team training complex that will be open to all..
Quebec City is expected to be the next city to earn an expansion team or be a relocation city for a current National Hockey League team. There’s a local effort to land the Oakland Raiders with a billion-dollar-plus domed stadium, and today Commissioner Rob Manfred left open the possibility that Vegas could land an Major League Baseball team in the future as well.
Bettman also said the board chose to defer Quebec City’s application for expansion due in large part to the volatility of the Canadian dollar.
Foley is a graduate of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, which uses the nickname Black Knights for its sports teams.
“I love Black Knights”, Foley said. “We’re going to work through the league”.
It takes time, it takes effort, it takes commitment and Bill Foley has what it takes to do that, he said.
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The Associated Press reported last week that the league’s executive committee will recommend to the board to accept the Las Vegas bid. Doing so may result in civil and/or criminal penalties. And more than 50 per cent of residents are African-Americans, Hispanics and Asians – visible minorities who are seldom seen at hockey arenas.
