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By Alan Snel, LVSportsBiz.com Publisher-Writer
Sometimes things are just not meant to be.
Bad timing. Plans that are too ambitious. Not the right fit.
That’s how it looks for Major League Soccer in Las Vegas.
Sorry Don Garber. You can talk all you want about Las Vegas being a contender for an MLS team.
But for now, Las Vegas looks like it will host one-off exhibition matches like the one Tuesday night when two well-known European soccer brands — Spain’s Barcelona and Italy’s Milan — squared off in a friendly at Allegiant Stadium before an announced attendance of 38,986 fans.
When it comes to major league teams planting a flag in on America’s frontier for sports, Las Vegas, I follow the stadium.
The Golden Knights are here because of T-Mobile Arena in 2017. The Raiders set up shop in 2020 because Southern Nevada is contributing $750 million to help build the domed stadium. The Athletics want to be here in a ballpark on the Strip in 2028 because of the Nevada Legislature approving a bill earmarking $380 million in government assistance for an A’s Stadium.
But where is the MLS stadium in Las Vegas?
There is none.
Give a tip of the cap to Brett Lashbrook for starting a minor league soccer team from scratch in 2018 after the city of Las Vegas was courted by Justin Findlay with a proposed soccer stadium proposal that ended with the city declining to help fund the venue in 2015.
Lashbrook hooked up with a construction adviser from San Diego County in hopes of redeveloping the downtown Cashman Center area in hopes of moving the Lights from Triple A to MLS. There was even a pretty rendering of a soccer stadium presented at a Las Vegas City Council meeting in 2019.
But COVID-19 struck and the soccer stadium plans fizzled in 2020.
In 2021, MLS Commish Garber said Las Vegas was in the running to become Major League Soccer’s 30th team, with Milwaukee Bucks owner Wes Edens and fellow billionaire Nassef Sawiris in talks with MLS to create an expansion team in this market.
While Golden Knights founding partners Bill Foley and the Maloof family met Las Vegas fans at bars to talk up big league hockey in Vegas, Edens and Sawiris have been MIA.
Speaking of Foley, he checked out the prospect of creating an MLS team for Las Vegas and walked away from that thought in the end. Instead, in 2022, Foley bought a bought a Premier League team in Bournemouth, England.
Las Vegas did not even qualify to host a 2026 World Cup game because the soccer field and turf area at Allegiant Stadium were not big enough to meet FIFA World Cup standards.
In fact, the corners of the pitch were less than 10 feet from the stands at Allegiant Stadium.
Raiders owner Mark Davis is busy enough overseeing the NFL team and the WNBA champion Las Vegas Aces franchise, which is steamrolling opposition to the tune of a jaw-dropping 24-2 record, including a win tonight over the Atlanta Dream, 93-72, across the interstate at Mandalay Bay’s Michelob Ultra Arena.
So, Las Vegas is a fine host for these Champions Tour international exhibitions and Gold Cup finals events that matched USA and Mexico two years ago. Los Angeles-based AEG, Legends and Sixth Street worked together on the Soccer Champions Tour that made a pit stop at Allegiant Stadium tonight.
The cheapest ticket on the secondary ticket market for tonight’s game was $64, which may or may not get you a dinner on the Strip these days.
Much of the lower bowl eventually filled up and it was a lively crowd, with more Barcelona fans than Milan backers.
It was the game’s sole goal.