New Knight Hawks Indoor Football Field Gets First Look Thursday
By Alan Snel of LVSportsBiz.com
Another first for Bill Foley’s new arena in Henderson: the playing surface for Foley’s Vegas Knight Hawks indoor football team was revealed Thursday as fans picked seats inside the 6,000-seat venue.
Technically speaking, the arena is called the Dollar Loan Center under a 22-year naming rights deal between Foley’s sports operation and the short term lender.
Foley, majority owner of the NHL Vegas Golden Knights, joined forces with the city of Henderson to build the $84 million arena with both Foley and Henderson each putting up $42 million for the building at 200 S. Green Valley Parkway near The District shopping area. The arena sits on the site of the old Henderson Pavilion that city officials said was outdated.
The Knight Hawks are part of Foley’s financial portfolio that includes the Golden Knights; the VGK’s feeder minor league club, the Henderson Silver Knights of the American Hockey League; and these Knight Hawks of the Indoor Football League.
Foley’s fascination with including “Knights” in his sports teams’ names dates back to his days as a cadet at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, where the sports team nickname was Black Knights.
Fans checked out the arena today and even walked the 50-yard field. Here’s a price list of tickets per game under the season plan.
LVSportsBiz.com spoke with the team’s coach, Mike Davis, about where the players come from:
Foley’s business fingerprints are all over the building. For example, his Craggy Range sports bar is built into the arena. Craggy Range is part of Foley’s restaurant chain called Glacier Restaurant Group. Foley’s MacKenzie River pizzeria is also part of the City National Arena facility, which houses the Golden Knights’ headquarters and training center in Summerlin.
The Knight Hawks’ first game in the arena is March 18.
