The Golden Knights end a four-game road trip Sunday night with a loss to the Boston Bruins in Boston. Photo credit: Erik John Ricardo/LVSportsBiz.com
Golden Knights 

Business Side Is Strong, But Golden Knights Limp Home to T-Mobile Arena with 7-10-1 Record

Alan Snel

By ALAN SNEL
LVSportsBiz.com

 

The business side of the Vegas Golden Knights is doing well.

 

Attendance and ticket revenues are strong as the VGK fills T-Mobile Arena to 105.3 percent of capacity, which is the second highest in the NHL. The team has lots of official partners and sponsors, doing well with local hotel-casinos. And merchandise sales of licensed logo gear is buzzing so well that the team has improved its retail store at team headquarters in Summerlin.

 

But the team’s record in the standings after 18 games? Mediocre.

 

After a loss to the Bruins in Boston Sunday, the Golden Knights are 7-10-1, which places the second-year franchise seventh out of eight teams in the Pacific Division as the club wrapped up a four-game road trip with a game against the B’s. LVSportsBiz.com photographer Erik John Ricardo was there to document the action on Veterans Day.

 

 

 

 

The Golden Knights return to home ice Wednesday, when division foe Anaheim Ducks and their premier goalie, John Gibson, visit T-Mobile Arena. Two days later, the St. Louis Blues come calling.

 

After reaching the Stanley Cup Finals in year one, the Golden Knights have struggled out of the blocks in season two. Top defenseman Nate Schmidt will miss two more games as he serves a 20-game PED suspension, while injuries have knocked out key players such as centerman Paul Stastny for stretches of play.

 

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The sluggish start has not hurt attendance. The Golden Knights’ average attendance is 18,294 at T-Mobile Arena, well over official sellout capacity of 17,367.

 

The Golden Knights also have done well with corporate partners, signing up diverse business sponsors such as gaming supplier AGS.

 

And the team is constantly rolling out new licensed products. Bear witness to a high-end bicycle jersey and bib-shorts.

 

But the team is looking for a spark, consistency and more energy regarding its performance on the ice. LVSportsBiz.com will be at Wednesday’s game with live interviews and coverage.

 

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Follow LVSportsBiz.com on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. Contact LVSportsBiz.com publisher/writer Alan Snel at asnel@LVSportsBiz.com

Alan Snel

Alan Snel brings decades of sports-business reporting experience to LVSportsBiz.com. Snel covered the business side of sports for the South Florida (Fort Lauderdale) Sun-Sentinel, the Tampa Tribune and Las Vegas Review-Journal. As a city hall beat reporter, Snel also covered stadium deals in Denver and Seattle. In 2000, Snel launched a sport-business website for FoxSports.com called FoxSportsBiz.com. After reporting sports-business for the RJ, Snel wrote hard-hitting stories on the Raiders stadium for the Desert Companion magazine in Las Vegas and The Nevada Independent. Snel is also one of the top bicycle advocates in the country.

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