Las Vegas Mayor On Potential MLS Team Owner: ‘I’m Hopeful He’s A Community-Minded Visionary’
By Alan Snel of LVSportsBiz.com
Las Vegas Mayor Carolyn Goodman said she has not talked with the potential MLS ownership team of Milwaukee Bucks co-owner Wes Edens and Egyptian billionaire Nassef Sawiris yet, but she does hope that if Major League Soccer awards its 30th franchise to the Edens/Sawiris duo that they invest in the Las Vegas community besides a soccer team.
“I’m hopeful he’s a community-minded visionary,” Goodman said of Edens.
Las Vegas is a hot sports brand these days and MLS has had its eyes on this market for years.
MLS is now talking with Edens/Sawiris about a team in Las Vegas.
It’s not a done deal. There’s not even a soccer stadium proposal.
But MLS Commissioner Don Garber did issue this statement: “We are in exclusive discussions with Wes Edens and Nassef Sawiris to bring a Major League Soccer expansion club to Las Vegas. As we witnessed at this summer’s Concacaf Gold Cup, at Leagues Cup and other marquee soccer matches in Las Vegas throughout the years, the city has a passionate soccer fan base, and we believe it could be a terrific MLS market. We look forward to finalizing our agreement with Wes and Nassef.”
LVSportsBiz.com first reported in July that the Concacaf Gold Cup being staged inside Allegiant Stadium was a strong clue that MLS thought an expansion soccer franchise could do well in Las Vegas.
Garber has been to Las Vegas before, meeting up with Goodman for events to promote soccer matches like the Leagues Cup competition.
MLS even issued a statement from Edens/Sawiris:
“As one of the world’s premier sports and entertainment markets with a fast-growing and diverse community, Las Vegas is the ideal home for an MLS expansion team. We believe that the rising popularity of soccer and development of talent in the United States puts the MLS on a path to becoming one of the top leagues in the world.”
This is an important step to build on our relationship with the MLS. We’re optimistic we’ll reach a final agreement soon to bring a world-class franchise and significant economic and cultural benefits to the greater Las Vegas community. — Potential MLS team owners Wes Edens and Nassef Sawiris
Before you start saving your money for MLS team season tickets, keep in mind there’s still not a soccer stadium plan.
And if there is a stadium proposal, will Edens and Sawiris be asking for public money to help build it? You might recall Gov. Steve Sisolak and Clark County Commission Chairwoman Marilyn Kirkpatrick have said in the past there’s no public money to help build a baseball park for the Oakland Athletics.
And in Las Vegas — like elsewhere — sports venues drive the major league bus. The Golden Knights are here because of T-Mobile Arena. The Raiders are here because Southern Nevada contributed $750 million to help build the 62,000-seat domed Allegiant Stadium. (Southern Nevada is raising more than $1 billion over the 30-year debt repayment period in order to contribute $750 million toward building the Raiders’ NFL stadium.)
Goodman would welcome Edens/Sawiris to redevelop the Cashman Center area into a “Deer District”-style development with a soccer stadium as the focus. Edens’ Bucks play in the Fiserv Forum next to the 30-acre Deer District, an entertainment area that is common around sports venues.
“Hopefully Wes with his success he can fuel interest in getting into the community,” Goodman said
Edens, 60, is a private equity investor, while Sawiris, 61, is an Egyptian billionaire and together they are majority shareholder of Aston Villa F.C. of the English Premier League. They bought a controlling share in July 2018. They’re legit and can afford to start an expansion team, though an MLS stadium of 25,000-30,000 people would mean it would have to attract other sports and entertainment programming besides 17-20 MLS home games to pencil out a profit in a market that already has so many venues.
There’s talk of the Edens/Sawiris soccer stadium on the south end of the Strip near the Brightline high-speed train station and Premium Outlets Mall.
The city of Las Vegas has struck out on soccer stadium plans before. In 2015, the city unsuccessfully tried to build a publicly-subsidized soccer stadium in downtown Symphony Park and in 2019 a development group proposed rebuilding Cashman Field into an MLS stadium but the city and developer never reached an agreement.
Golden Knights owner Bill Foley explored starting an MLS team in Las Vegas and even explored 20 stadium sites at one point., But he’s out of the picture for an MLS team at this point, focusing on developing his new 6,000-seat arena in Henderson for his indoor football team and minor league hockey club and cross-promoting his various winery and hospitality properties in California.
Las Vegas does have a minor league soccer team, the Lights, which are the Triple A affiliate of LAFC of Major League Soccer.
In a town where there’s a lot of talk of creating teams and building stadiums, Lights founder/owner Brett Lashbrook deserves credit for creating the Lights FC. Indeed, there was a lot of excitement when the Lights were born in 2017.
“He put his money where his mouth was,” Goodman said of Lashbrook.
Now, it looks like billionaires Edens and Sawiris are poised to give MLS a try in Las Vegas.
One suggestion: show us the soccer stadium plan. And will these potential owners be asking for public money to help build it?
