By ALAN SNEL
LVSportsBiz.com
Even when the Vegas Golden Knights are on the road — and clinching a spot in the Western Conference Finals and making the NHL’s Final Four in their first season — majority team owner Bill Foley is making money.
His restaurant, MacKenzie River pizza pub, sandwiched between two rinks at the Golden Knights’ practice center in Summerlin was jammed with 300 VGK fans eating pizza and quaffing beer.
A quiet night at MacKenzie River yields about $3,000 or so in revenues. But a night like this, when the Golden Knights finished the San Jose Sharks to win the conference semi-final, can generate flowing beer and flowing cash to the tune of $18,000.
Not only does Foley hit the jackpot every time the Golden Knights host a playoff game at T-Mobile Arena where more than 18,000 are filling the venue when the average postseason ticket is in the $175-$200 range, the deal maker also is generating impressive revenues at his training center restaurant.
Sunday, manager Christopher DeJesus deployed a staff of 20, including eight servers and four bartenders, to move the nachos, pizzas and beer during the festive evening.
DeJesus is a Las Vegas native, so seeing fans unite while watching Golden Knights hockey games at the pizza pub has personal meaning for him.
“I’m proud to be part of the ground floor,” DeJesus said after the Golden Knights game as fans were leaving the pizza pub. “It’s nice to be their home.”
Foley’s MacKenzie River pizza brand, created 24 years ago in Bozeman, Montana, is among six restaurant brands in the Whitefish, Montana-based Glacier Restaurant Group, LLC. Foley is the restaurant group’s chairman. He also built Fidelity National Financial into a title insurance company powerhouse.
Don’t be surprised if a second MacKenzie River pizza opens in metro Las Vegas this year.
MacKenzie River pizza has even been called up for duty to help the Golden Knights.
The restaurant prepares the post-game meals and pre-game snacks for the Golden Knights players in addition to breakfast and lunch at the team’s training center. MacKenzie River even makes meals for the Golden Knights for their flights to away game.
Sunday’s MacKenzie River bash was among many across the Vegas Valley, including a monster watch party at the plaza outside T-Mobile Arena.
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Even the crowd of about 2,000 at the Las Vegas Aces WNBA game preseason opener at the Mandalay Bay Events Center roared with approval when fans heard the Golden Knights grabbed a 2-0 lead against the Sharks in the clinching Game 6.
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