Bill Foley’s Sports Expansion Relies On Both Adding Teams and Venue Construction
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Story by Alan Snel Photos by Hugh Byrne
It’s a Saturday night in Henderson and fans have gathered in the 6,000-seat arena in the suburban city’s Green Valley neighborhood to watch an Indoor Football League team called the Vegas Knight Hawks play a team from San Diego.
It’s not uncommon for the football to land in the stands at The Dollar Loan Center arena where fans will fight for the souvenir like baseball fans struggling to claim a foul pop. On this night, the Knight Hawks played an exciting game but lost by a point, 37-36. Players in this league dream of playing for the National Football League. The Knight Hawks’ next game in Henderson is April 21 when a team called the Duke City Gladiators visits the arena that is now in its second year.
The Knight Hawks are owned by NHL Vegas Golden Knights majority owner Bill Foley, who not only creates or buys teams but also works directly on the venues they use.
Even after MGM Resorts International and Anschutz Entertainment Group (AEG) built T-Mobile Arena, Foley bought 15 percent share of the building after the arena opened in 2016.
Foley then built the Golden Knights’ HQ and training center in Summerlin, with the facility opening In September 2017.
Foley also built a similar community ice center in Henderson before building Dollar Loan Center arena in 2022.
That $84 million building in Green Valley across from The District also hosts Foley’s Henderson Silver Knights, the feeder minor league team for the big league Golden Knights. Foley and the city of Henderson each spent $42 million to build the arena that was constructed on the site of the old Henderson Pavilion.
City National Arena, the VGK home base named after City National Bank under a title sponsorship deal, has a retail store that’s selling licensed logo gear of Foley’s most recent sports acquisition — AFC Bournemouth of the Premier League.
Foley plans to expand Bournemouth’s soccer stadium or build a new one with crowd capacity in the 20,000-25,000 range, while also wanting to build new training facilities. The current Bournemouth venue has space for about 11,000 fans.
Expect Foley to cross-promote his sports properties in the venues. He already has his own branded restaurants in the Summerlin and Henderson ice arenas, while also having his wines available at T-Mobile Arena.
And like we mentioned, Bournemouth logo gear is available at City National Arena in Summerlin.
Meanwhile, Foley’s VGK, Silver Knights and Knight Hawks are in action these days here in Las Vegas.
