By Alan Snel of LVSportsBiz.com
The Vegas Golden Knights have sealed off their practice rink from the public at their Summerlin training center. The windows are covered in black. The lobby next to the rink is inaccessible. And the only access to the training center’s Golden Knights team store is through another exterior door at City National Arena.
It looks like the VGK is getting the rink ready for team practices, which will not be open to the public because of the COVID-19 pandemic that has killed 340,000 Americans and even infected Golden Knights majority owner Bill Foley.
The Golden Knights recently told season ticket holders they can either roll over their money to the next season or receive a refund for this upcoming 56-game season that starts Jan. 13. The Knights start their season on Jan. 14 when the Anaheim Ducks visit a fan-free T-Mobile Arena.
While fans cannot watch Golden Knights players in person, there is no shortage of VGK jerseys to buy and wear. Vegas Golden Knights full season ticket holders will receive a free Reverse Retro jersey for the new season that starts in about two weeks.
The pandemic has created a new sports product without fans in stadiums, arenas and ballparks.
LVSportsBiz.com was credentialed to watch UFC’s first live sports event in Las Vegas at UFC’s Apex facility in the southwest valley May 30; all eight Raiders home games that began Sept. 21 with a Monday Night Football win over the New Orleans Saints; the first game at Allegiant Stadium that had fans Oct. 31 when UNLV hosted Nevada, Reno for a football game; and a UNLV basketball game on Nov. 25 when the Runnin’ Rebels lost to Montana State before no fans at Thomas & Mack Center.
The sports game you see on TV complete with canned crowd noise is nothing like the experience in venues that have no fans. Without fans in the buildings and no spectator energy in the venues, these games that I have witnessed resemble a high-tech pick-up game with fancy uniforms and sponsors’ logos.
At UFC fight shows without fans, you hear the fighters’ coaches screaming instructions and the raw sounds of fists and feet striking skin. At Raiders games, you can hear players’ cheers from the field way up in the press box situated near the Allegiant Stadium roof; and at the UNLV basketball game you can hear the players’ chatter.
Without fans, these in-person sports games are kind of like Pee-Wee sports games with grown ass men instead of little kids playing in front of medical staffers and teammates and only a few other human beings. Sports are no longer a spectacle without fans. The music and electronic ribbon ads and scoreboard content just don’t cut it without fans.
The pandemic major league game is a fundamentally different product, with sports leagues with the most lucrative TV broadcast rights contracts (i.e. the NFL) coming through the COVID-19 public health crisis in much better financial shape than the leagues (i.e. the NHL) that rely so much on game revenues (mostly ticket sales).
For now, fans out there have their TV screens and their jerseys. One day fans will fill venues.