By ALAN SNEL
LVSportsBiz.com
Las Vegas Lights owner Brett Lashbrook knew it from the get-go: Zappos would be a great business partner.
Lashbrook was having lunch with Zappos Experience & Community Team Manager aka “Culture Commando” (that’s what his business card says) Loren Becker. The lunch was not even over before the two were already swapping ideas for Zappos to play a part with the new downtown soccer team’s jersey (sponsor and designer) and play a big role at the Lights’ games (llamas and beer garden).
To an outside observer at LVSportsBiz.com, the reason for the three-year Zappos-Lights sponsorship agreement was simple: The Zappos and Lights work cultures align.
First, both organizations are committed to downtown. While many businesses are migrating to the 215 Beltway corridor in southwest valley and to Summerlin, Lashbrook and Zappos CEO Tony Hsieh love #DTLV for their businesses.
In 2012, Hsieh rehabbed old Las Vegas City Hall for his online retail shoe and clothing call center headquarters.
Meanwhile, Lashbrook looks forward to reshaping baseball-centric Cashman Field into a soccer-only venue in 2019 when the Las Vegas 51s baseball team moves into a new $150 million Triple A ball park in Summerlin.
Both Zappos and the Lights have relaxed business organizations. Zappos (owned by Amazon.com Inc.) is known for its manager-free, self-management work environment. Also based in downtown, the Lights work out of an old 3rd Street church where Lashbrook’s office is a small narrow space off the entrance that is probably smaller than most Summerlin master bedroom walk-in closets. The Lights even allow an LVSportsBiz.com writer to bring his bicycle into their offices.
Hsieh, who dislikes the rigid corporate world culture immensely, has stayed away from investing dollars in professional sports, choosing instead to underwrite his $350 million Downtown Project revitalization initiative to transform a blighted section of downtown into a hub for entrepreneurs. Downtown Project has had mixed results, but people generally believe it has economically improved a stretch of the Fremont Street corridor east of Fremont Street Experience.
LVSportsBiz.com contacted Zappos’ Becker for this story to find out why Zappos wanted to partner with the Lights. We submitted questions via email and received no response. LVSportsBiz.com also met Becker at a Feb. 7 event at Zappos where the Lights unveiled its jersey and Becker told us he would send answers. But LVSportsBiz.com received no response. But that didn’t stop LVSportsBiz.com from reporting this story.
The front of the Lights’ jersey features the Zappos logo very prominently. In fact, a Zappos worker designed the jersey. It’s no surprise that’s fans have told LVSportsBiz.com the Lights’ blue, yellow and pink colors on the black background soccer jersey have given the team jerseys a rainbow-looking touch.
Hsieh’s call center workers enjoy their organization’s priority of having a good time and partying — which is exactly how Lashbrook markets the Lights games. The team owner implores locals to enjoy the downtown party at soccer games. It worked last Saturday when more than 10,000 fans packed Cashman for the sellout.
Hsieh’s llamas visited the Zappos tailgate party before the game last week when the Lights lost to the MLS Montreal Impact, 2-0.
Over at Zappos headquarters, the online retailer sells the Lights jersey for $80 in its lobby retail store, while the shop also sells other Lights licensed gear from scarfs to ball caps.
And when you go online to buy a Lights shirt on the team’s website, it transfers you to the Zappos online retail site.
The Lights also have a colorful, expressive coach — Mexican Jose Luis Sanchez Sola, known by the nickname Chelis. He fits in well with the Lights’ out-of-the-box approach and is known for his funny quips and brutally honest observations. And just so you know, he doesn’t appreciate you photographing him when he smokes a cigarette during practices.
The Lights tonight play game two of its three-game preseason schedule with a match against the Vancouver Whitecaps 8 p.m. at Cashman Field. The 34-game United Soccer League regular season begins March 17, while the regular season home-opener is March 24 when Reno 1868 FC visits Cashman.
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