Foley’s Group Looked At 20 Potential MLS Stadium Sites, Talked With Raiders About Using Allegiant Stadium In Quest For MLS Team
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By Alan Snel of LVSportsBiz.com
Bill Foley’s sports and entertainment staff looked at 20 potential locations for a Major League Soccer Stadium in metro Las Vegas, talked with Raiders owner Mark Davis about the prospect of using Allegiant Stadium for a MLS team and picked a name, the Las Vegas Heroes, for a potential MLS team as part of his organization’s efforts to bring pro soccer to the Las Vegas market.
Kerry Bubolz, Vegas Golden Knights president and co-CEO of the Foley Entertainment Group, talked with LVSportsBiz.com Wednesday evening about Foley’s efforts to create an MLS team for Las Vegas after he had a question-and-answer session with the Sports Business Journal, which is in Las Vegas holding a three-day sports sport facilities and franchises and ticketing symposium.
During his talk with Sports Business Journal Executive Editor/Publisher Abe Madkour, Bubolz told a group of sports business show attendees at T-Mobile Arena that an MLS team is a “great fit in this market.” Las Vegas has the right demographics to support an MLS team, Bubolz told the group.
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Foley’s sports group has spent two years working on the details of creating an MLS team, which has been an even more newsworthy topic in Las Vegas after the main investor of an MLS team in Sacramento dropped out. There’s also talk of Milwaukee Bucks co-owner Wes Edens being part of a group trying to bring MLS to Las Vegas, while a third group with investor Seth Klarman has talked with the city of Las Vegas about an idea of building a new soccer stadium at the Cashman Center site in downtown Las Vegas.
Bubolz said MLS’s model for a soccer stadium has seating for 18,000-28,000 fans, but acknowledged NFL team owners in Seattle, Atlanta and Charlotte also own MLS teams that use the NFL team’s stadium.
It’s no secret that MLS Commissioner Don Garber is intrigued by the Las Vegas market, with the recent Gold Cup and Leagues Cup soccer games at Allegiant Stadium showing that fans will buy tickets to watch soccer games at the Raiders-controlled stadium on the west side of Interstate 15, across from Mandalay Bay about a 15-minute walk from the Strip.
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In his chat with Madkour, Bubolz shared his thoughts on growing the Golden Knights brand in the Las Vegas market and connecting the dots between Foley’s sports and entertainment properties and Foley’s hospitality and winery properties under the Foley Entertainment Group banner. The sports business magazine’s symposium included tours of Allegiant Stadium Tuesday and T-Mobile Arena Wednesday. Bubolz mentioned:
-In Golden Knights Season 1, about 10 percent-30 percent of the fans were rooting for the Knights’ opponent at T-Mobile Arena, but now it’s down to a “handful to 10 percent.”
-VGK are looking to build five or six community ice centers, with their sights on west Henderson and North Las Vegas.
-Foley’s military background as a West Point graduate provided discipline to grow his businesses, with Foley also not afraid to fail on business initiatives.
The Foley Entertainment Group also includes the American Hockey League Henderson Silver Knights, the new Indoor Football League Vegas Knight Hawks, the Dollar Loan Center arena that opens in Henderson in spring 2022, Lifeguard Arena community ice center in Henderson, about 20 wine brands and the just-acquired Hotel Californian in Santa Barbara.
Bubolz is serving as co-CEO of the Foley Entertainment Group alongside Randy Morton, former president and COO of the Bellagio from 2007-2020.
The sports business attendees watched this video at T-Mobile Arena.
