By ALAN SNEL
LVSportsBiz.com
The wifi network at the Vegas Golden Knights’ twin-rink practice facility is quite impressive.
LVSportsBiz.com has been known to write and publish a few stories at City National Arena, the Golden Knights’ headquarters and training center (and home to owner Bill Foley’s pizzeria, MacKenzie River Pizza.)
In fact, the network is so robust that the future next-door neighbors of the Golden Knights — the Las Vegas 51s and their Las Vegas Ballpark — might not even need to install their own wifi network.
LVSportsBiz.com was strolling the empty dirt lot next to City National Arena this week near Downtown Summerlin about 12 miles west of the Strip when the arena’s wifi network appeared on my cell phone.
The $150 million 51s ballpark is being built by the team’s owner, Howard Hughes, thanks to an $80 million gift from the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority in the form of a 20-year naming rights deal. The LVCVA, which takes pride in trying to be creative, came up with this as the ball yard name: “Las Vegas Ballpark.”
Howard Hughes, owner of Summerlin and Downtown Summerlin and building a six-story office building just north of City National Arena, will likely come up with its own wifi for the ballpark. We can only hope.
It’s doubtful that Summerlin’s powerful master developer would sponge off the internet network of its sportsy next-door neighbor.
The 51s hope to open their new ballpark in 2019, which means construction company PENTA will have to get busy building the 10,000-fan, 22-suite ball yard that will have a 360-degree concourse with a swimming pool and kids zone.
The 51s will play at Cashman Field this summer and share the downtown venue with the new Las Vegas soccer team called the Lights FC. But when the 51s leave downtown for the Summerlin ‘burbs in 2019, the Las Vegas Lights FC of the United Soccer League will have the entire Cashman venue to itself.
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