By ALAN SNEL
LVSportsBiz.com
We’re in uncharted waters in Las Vegas’ sports market, one dominated by UNLV basketball for decades, Triple A baseball in downtown Las Vegas and its fight capital reputation that transitioned from monster big-time boxing matches to MMA and UFC (purchased for more than $4 billion).
The Las Vegas market is integrating three new professional teams complete with their unique demographic followings in eight months to join Las Vegas Motor Speedway’s second NASCAR event in September.
And then, that NFL team known as the Raiders come to town in 2020, though their presence is in full view thanks to that little nearly $2 billion stadium project being built on the west side of Interstate 15 across the highway from Mandalay Bay off Russell Road.
What’s fascinating is that the emerging new sports properties are embracing their Las Vegas host roots to include not just athletic feats but entertainment features, too. That means anything goes because the sports ringmasters can simply say, “Hey, it’s Vegas,” and you can do anything from staging weddings during games (Golden Knights) to hiring Southern Nevada’s most entertaining coach from south of the border (Lights FC).
The Lights’ manager is none other than Jose Luis Sanchez Sola, or El Chelis, who smokes like Wally Backman, utters quips like Casey Stengel and offers unique facial expressions like Jon Gruden.
Chelis got ejected from Saturday night’s match after words with some Vancouver Whitecaps assistant coaches.
So, would the Lights’ colorful Mexican manager head for the showers?
Hell no.
Chelis took a seat a couple of sections from a Lights supporter group, the Electric Company, and even lit a cigarette while sitting in the Cashman stands.
Chelis promised that the Lights soccer games would not only provide athletic matches but also a show to boot. On the team’s Facebook page, Chelis said it wasn’t an act to join the fans in the stands: ”I like to be there. I think they’re glad to have me, to have me near them. It’s not like an acting thing, it just feels like my natural place. I’ve always been a fan, so I’m glad to be with them.”
Chelis with the fans Saturday night during the game after he was ejected. Photo credit: L..E. Baskow
Chelis has delivered on the show part after two preseason games at Cashman Field. He might just be worth the price of admission — 15 bucks for a preseason game. ($200 for season tickets, plus a free Lights jersey).
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It’s not every day you’ll see a manager or coach get tossed from a game and then find a seat to hang out with the fans and even light up a cigarette.
“I love that Chelis jumped into the crowd to watch the game. The photos showed him clearly evaluating players still which is key,” said Lights fan Jon Fish, an Electric Company member.
“He is a passionate coach for sure and I can only respect that. The Vancouver coaches kept their heads down and eyes averted and they walked out passed us while we did the traditional Who Are Ya chant,” Fish said.
But the night was far from over for El Chelis.
After the 3-2 loss to the MLS team from Vancouver, he took a seat at a post-game press conference in the Cashman press area and uttered a few gems.
First, there was this beauty from Chelis, “In Mexico, we have a quote: ‘What doesn’t kill you, makes you fat.’ ”
Then later on, Chelis compared his team to a cake that had the bread part but it needed more details to it to finish looking like a cake.
We’ll spare you the cake puns and goofy references and just say that LVSportsBiz.com won’t even try to predict what Chelis will be up to at the team’s final preseason game Saturday at 8 p.m. when the club hosts MLS’ DC United at Cashman. The regular season starts March 17.
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