By Alan Snel
LVSportsBiz.com
While the Vegas Golden Knights were practicing to prepare for the San Jose Sharks and the Stanley Cup Playoffs next door at the VGK training center, workers were putting the finishing touches Monday on a $150 million minor league ballpark that will be Las Vegas’ latest sports venue to open when the Las Vegas Aviators throw the first home pitch Tuesday evening.
The newly-branded Aviators, formerly the 51s, have been testing out the high-powered scoreboard and sign lights at night, while workers are doing last-minute painting, landscaping and walkway prep work in front of the 10,000-fan ball yard that has 22 suites and a 360-degree concourse.
Howard Hughes Corporation hit the jackpot when the LVCVA public tourism agency Oct. 10, 2017 gave $80 million to the Texas-based developer in the form of a naming rights deal for the $150 million venue. With downtown Cashman Field considered the Pacific Coast League’s most dated ballpark (don’t forget the sewage stories), it’s as if Howard Hughes Corp. is going from the outhouse to the penthouse with the new gem of a baseball park.
Tuesday’s game is sold out. On the secondary market, the cheapest ticket on StubHub is $100 for a seat in the last section down the left field line.
The glass facade on the interior of the ballpark gives the venue the look of an airport terminal — which is consistent with a team nicknamed the Aviators. The team name is reference to the team owner’s namesake, Howard Hughes, a colorful character who was a pilot among his various jobs. He died in 1976. Below is a photo of the venue’s glassy facade and a framed 51s jersey with the Hughes name on it at the company’s Summerlin office.
The Golden Knights’ two-rink training center and headquarters is literally next door to the baseball park along South Pavilion Center Drive near Red Rock resort and across the street from the Downtown Summerlin shopping center. The ice center and all park are so close that VGK workers felt the blast vibrations when excavation was going on at the baseball park site and the VGK wifi worked at the Aviators site.
With the biggest scoreboard in the minors, the new ballpark is going to ratchet up the in-game entertainment.
The new Aviators logo was not exactly a hit, as fans thought it looked like the Antman character and others thought it looked like the old Johnny Carson character, “Carnac the Magnificent.” The logo debuted in December to an unpopular review.
But the regular “LV” ball cap seems to be much more popular and you will see baseball fans wearing that version of the re-branded Aviators hat. Many fans simply could not understand the new logo — a fate that UNLV suffered with its new complicated logo that was ultimately shelved. Minor League Baseball team logos are known to be irreverent and silly, but it seems like the Aviators logo was done by Howard Hughes corporate and not the baseball people.
LVSportsBiz.com will be at the new ballpark’s opening night Tuesday with LVSB photographers Daniel Clark and J. Tyge O’Donnell.
Expect a big uptick in attendance with the new ballpark and the demographics will change as more families from Summerlin are expected to fill the venue this summer. Fans were already inquiring at the box office Monday, but were told by a worker that it was closed at the time.
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