Golden Knights Season 3 Preview: Team President Bubolz Outlines Business Game Plan For 2019-20

 

By Alan Snel

LVSportsBiz.com

Kerry Bubolz strolled down a flight of stairs from the Vegas Golden Knights headquarters, turned right to walk through the team store called the “Arsenal” (the NHL team takes the medieval military play-on-words quite seriously) and emerged into the lobby of the City National Arena ice center in suburban Summerlin.

There they were before his eyes: several dozen little kids with their parents tightening the laces on their children’s skate boots near one of two ice rinks in the building.

Bubolz, the Golden Knights president, displayed a calm and subtle smile as he soaked up the scene late Tuesday afternoon.

“Community,” Bubolz said. “That’s what we were talking about.”

Indeed, we were discussing that subject during an hour-long discussion on how the not-your-conventional NHL expansion team was approaching the launch of a third regular season Oct. 2 when the Golden Knights host the San Jose Sharks at T-Mobile Arena.

For Bubolz, seeing the youngsters lace up their skates was akin to a proud farmer surveying a rich bounty from crops planted more than two years ago. The VGK’s learn to skate program — the bottom rung of the team’s hockey development model — began with 1,100 kids from 2017 to 2018. One year later, that number has ballooned to 4,400 for 2018 to 2019.

The Golden Knights’ metrics for gate revenue, merchandise sales and local sponsorships are all top five in the NHL.

But sustaining those lofty revenue numbers for years down the road rests on the backs of these pint-sized, 60-pound six-year-olds.

“Kids who are five to eight years old are making lifetime decisions about who their favorite team is,” Bubolz told LVSportsBiz.com during a sweeping interview in the VGK business office meeting room dubbed, “The Chambers.” (We’re not kidding about these medieval references.)

As the young Las Vegas-based franchise enters Season 3, the business growth can be measured in several ways. In early July 2017, LVSportsBiz.com interviewed Bubolz about the role of growing hockey in the desert to lay the team’s foundation for years to come. At the time before Year 1, the Golden Knights converted an astonishing 85 percent of 16,000 season ticket commitments of $100 into real game ticket buyers, Bubolz recalled.

Now, more than two years later with the Golden Knights already in their third preseason (they defeated the Avalanche, 5-0, in Denver Tuesday night), Bubolz said there are more than 15,000 full season equivalent ticket holders, with more than 5,000 fans on a season ticket waiting list called the “Can’t Wait List.”

Bubolz outlined the strategy behind beefing up the number of different fans in the overall 15,000 plus season ticket equivalents: When any full-season ticket holders didn’t renew their deals for 2019-2020, fans on the can’t wait list were sold partial ticket deals instead of full season deals in order to get more new fans involved.

Keep in mind, the Knights averaged 18,319 fans a game in 2018-19  in a building where capacity is 17,367. The Golden Knights filled the Big Ice House by the Strip to 105.5 percent of capacity, second highest in the NHL behind Chicago last season.

Let’s look at other Season 3 changes via Tuesday’s Bubolz interview:

Number of workers. Outside of the hockey players, the Golden Knights have more than 150 full-time workers and more than 200 part-timers. When the team started, the numbers were half of those.

Broadcast staff changes. Studio host Nick Gismondi, studio analyst Brad May and rink reporter Alyson Lozoff were let go and Daren Millard, Mike McKenna and Stormy Buonantony are in. The new trio will join arena emcee Mark Shunock and Darren Eliot, VGK VP for hockey programming and facility operations, in creating more local programming for the team’s TV rights holder, AT&T SportsNet, Bubolz said. On McKenna, who just retired as an NHL goaltender, Bubolz said, “He brings a certain intangible, charisma and knowledge of the game. We’re excited.” And on Buonantony, “She’s local and Vegas born.” Millard has an interesting tie to the VGK: He hosted the expansion draft in June 2017.

Sponsorships and partnerships.  The Knights are approaching 150 sponsors, and there will be more announcements to come. Bubolz declined to identify the categories of the new sponsors. Partnerships are worldwide as the Knights have ties with two bars — or VGK embassies — in Vienna, Austria, called 1516 Brewing Company and Charley P’s.

Allegiant stage on plaza outside arena. The stage platform has been raised thanks to a new base of three feet of concrete that gives the permanent platform a “true stage feel” so that fans can see what’s happening from further away. There will be a countdown to open the arena doors before VGK home games — and a goal horn blast will also signal the opening of the doors.

Pregame sword-in-rock ceremony. It’s owner Bill Foley’s pride and joy. Bubolz was a bit coy on the topic, but it does appear to be sticking around for season three with an “evolving” sword ceremony.

Ticket prices.  The average ticket price is more than $100. Fans have been complaining about the high ticket prices on the second market, including the team’s own VGK Ticket Exchange. But Bubolz pointed out, “We don’t direct them on what to ask (for a ticket). We just provide the marketplace.” He said tickets when bought directly from the team are cheaper than buying them on the secondary market.

License plates. The number of VGK car tags has hit 35,000 and Bubolz hinted that drivers of cars with VGK plates will be eligible for special prizes when they show up for games.

Taking operations in-house. As the Golden Knights organization matures, more operations will be taken in-house. The new broadcasters were an example, he noted, and the team is no longer using a third-party company, MeiGray, to handle its game worn items like jerseys.

Pregame march to the arena. Not only will some marches begin at the Brooklyn Bridge on the Strip in front of New York-New York, some will now start at Park MGM. Plus, a new battlewagon will join the team’s medieval crew of characters who include Lee Orchard who plays the knight, Chance the mascot and the Knight Line drummers. Also, some staff name changes — the Golden Aces cheerleaders are now the Vegas Vivas and the Vegas Belles showgirls are now the Golden Belles.

Pregame videos.  Bubolz said he received encouraging comments about a new pregame player intro video that appeared before Sunday’s first preseason game. The video, which included Deep Purple’s 1971 hit, “Smoke on the Water,” as a musical track had scenes of players like Mark Stone amid fire on the ice. “If the hair on your arm stands up,” Bubolz said of the pregame player intros, “you did your job.”

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