By Alan Snel of LVSportsBiz.com
It happened so fast.
One day, Brian Killingsworth was working for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers back in 2017.
Next thing you know, he’s the chief marketing officer for the Vegas Golden Knights during a historic inaugural season and spreading the VGK brand around the globe and the #VegasBorn hashtag around the world of social media.
But Killingsworth’s remarkable four-year marketing journey has come to a close at VGK headquarters at City National Arena in Summerlin.
The Golden Knights said Thursday that Killingsworth is leaving the NHL team.
It was Killingsworth’s job to be in charge of anything related to the Golden Knights brand, from the launch of the mascot to the Thanksgiving weekend retail sales to the sales of jerseys, hats and VGK logo gear that generated so much revenue for the team and the league.
Killingsworth’s greatest achievement was probably taking a medieval knight — which has no inherent link to Las Vegas or the Southern Nevada desert — and making the Golden Knights branded items on everything from blazers, caps and license plates to leggings, T-shirts and even an adult onesie as commonplace in the Las Vegas market as a pair of dice.
Here’s an interview LVSportsBiz.com had with Killingsworth in June 2019.
The Knights said, “Brian was a respected, impactful leader for the Golden Knights organization who brought many of our most recognizable activations and marketing campaigns to life, dating back to our inaugural season. We wish him the best in all his future endeavors.”
LVSportsBiz.com also wishes Killingsworth well. He was often seen before VGK home games, cruising the concourse, sometimes with team president Kerry Bubolz and his former Tampa friend, Jim Frevola, who handles Golden Knights corporate sponsorships.