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By Alan Snel of LVSportsBiz.com
The Vegas Golden Knights are currently at 22 percent attendance capacity — or 3,950 fans — at T-Mobile Arena and VGK majority owner Bill Foley would like to get to 28 percent, or 4,863 fans, for the next step.
Foley discussed the fan attendance issue at the Golden Knights’ Tuesday announcement of the naming rights deal saying the Henderson Silver Knights arena will be called Dollar Loan Center. The 6,000-seat arena opens in spring 2022.
Foley also said he liked the idea of having even more fans at T-Mobile Arena by having sections designated for fans who show proof of vaccination to get more people in the building.
Some major league teams like the NBA Miami Heat are implementing vaccination fan sections in their venues at games starting April 1 to allow the social distancing standards to be loosened from six feet to three feet. That means the space between pods of fans can be reduced to only a single empty seat, permitting more people in the building.
Nevada Gov. Steve Sisolak’s most recent COVID-19 directive said that large gatherings can have up to 50 percent capacity in venues, but keep in mind local and state officials who approve protocol plans also want social distancing. That’s why the Golden Knights just can’t throw T-Mobile Arena open to half capacity at the venue that has 17,367 fixed-in-place seats.
The Vegas Golden Knights are known for having one of the highest per capita spending rates in the National Hockey League, so more fans in T-Mobile Arena means more revenues flowing into the VGK accounts.
Foley, pictured below at the Henderson arena construction site Tuesday, also mentioned the majority of Golden Knights players have received their first COVID-19 vaccination shots.
The novel coronavirus has led to the deaths of 540,000 Americans. Sisiolak said all people 16 and older are eligible to get vaccination shots starting April 5. Here’s the most recent COVID numbers for Nevada:
The Golden Knights play the Los Angeles Kings later today at 7PM at T-Mobile Arena. LVSportsBiz.com will be there, so please look for our coverage.