Las Vegas’ Next Major League Sports Team? Not NBA Or MLB But How About Rugby?

By Alan Snel

LVSportsBiz.com

 

This being Las Vegas, city of big dreams and city of the big sports buffet, there’s not a week that goes by without some sportsy marketing folks chatting about a new major league or professional sports team setting up shop in Las Vegas.

 

The latest chatter is about a new Las Vegas team in Major League Rugby, a 12-team league that just last month announced its 2020 season with two conferences of six teams each that has a 96-match regular season kicking off in mid-February 2020. The rugby league began in 2018 with seven teams playing in front of crowds of a few thousand.

 

Two Las Vegas area sports/entertainment marketing men, Mick Hall and Rob Cornelius, of a new outfit called Emersion Entertainment, have been talking behind the scenes about the idea of a professional rugby team in Las Vegas that could potentially try and join Major League Rugby.  Hall’s LinkedIn page says he created Emersion Entertainment in January and he describes himself as a “Media Strategist, Image Consultant and Business Analyst.”

 

You might recognize Cornelius’ name from the USA Rugby Sevens tournament played annually at Sam Boyd Stadium in March, though Cornelius is no longer involved in promoting and marketing the rugby tournament that was the subject of a recent lawsuit filed by United World Sports of Tarrytown, NY. The USA Sevens is an international tournament drawing rugby teams from countries like Australia, England, South Africa and Japan to Las Vegas.

 

Cornelius said on his LinkedIn page that he is the partner and president of Emersion Entertainment.

 

In a text to LVSportsBiz.com, Cornelius wrote, “Mick Hall and (I) are partners in (a) new sports and entertainment company. At this time we can’t discuss MLR but if and when something happens we would be happy to let you be the first to know.”

 

Meanwhile, Hall’s LinkedIn page talks about his company “acquiring the rights to a professional sports team.”

 

Here’s a chunk of info from Hall’s LinkedIn page: “Las Vegas is successfully redefining itself yet again, this time as a Global Sports & Entertainment destination. In 2019, Mick Hall formed and funded Emersion, a Las Vegas-based sports promotion/management & entertainment company that is capitalizing on the opportunities created by growth in mid-(tier) pro sports—specifically as relates to Las Vegas. The company is acquiring the rights to a professional sports team; large-scale events; and developing a new nightlife concept, all located on the Las Vegas Strip adjacent to some of the world’s leading gaming and entertainment hotel/casinos.”

 

Just so you know, Major League Rugby has three new teams  — the New England Free Jacks; Old Glory DC in Washington D.C.; and Atlanta’s Rugby ATL.

 

For the rugby league’s Season 3 that starts Feb. 15, 2020, the dozen teams will be divided into western and eastern conferences.  The Western Conference has Austin, Houston, Glendale, San Diego, Seattle and Utah, while the Eastern Conference features Atlanta, Boston, Washington D.C., New Orleans, New York and Toronto. If you’re interested in Major League Rugby, you can read more about the rugby league here.

 

Major League Rugby has a commissioner with an interesting connection to Las Vegas.

 

Dean Howes worked for the Findlay family in 2015 when the Findlays proposed a professional soccer stadium for downtown Las Vegas in Symphony Park under a partnership with the city of Las Vegas and a private development company, The Cordish Companies out of Baltimore. The soccer stadium proposal didn’t work out because there was heated public debate over the city using public money to build the sports venue. Major League Soccer also did not award a franchise to Las Vegas.

 

Howes is also the former chief executive of the Real Salt Lake soccer club, a team in Major League Soccer. LVSportsBiz.com contacted Howes via phone, but didn’t hear back Tuesday.

 

Here’s the Major League Rugby PR comment: “We can’t comment on speculation about a particular city, but MLR does regularly receive inquiries from prospective ownership groups around North America. MLR is already scheduled to expand from nine to 12 teams in 2020, and we’re always happy to discuss future expansion with potential partners as professional rugby continues to gain momentum here.”

 

Things are busy in Las Vegas’ sports world. In 2017, the NHL Vegas Golden Knights ushered in major league team sports, while the Las Vegas Lights FC soccer team of United Soccer League and WNBA Las Vegas Aces debuted in 2018. Don’t forget, a second NASCAR race began at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in September. Plus there are the usual events of UFC, National Finals Rodeo, UNLV basketball and a new Las Vegas Aviators ballpark that opened in Summerlin in April 2019.

 

And the 900-pound gorilla of the NFL Raiders is scheduled to move into a new domed stadium project on the west side of Interstate 15 across from Mandalay Bay in 2020.

 

Will professional rugby come to Las Vegas? Well, I’m told I’ll be the first to know.

 

Now, what about a professional lacrosse team in Las Vegas?

 

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