Story by Alan Snel Photos by Hugh Byrne
LAS VEGAS, Nevada — It was a year ago when Ruben Herrera was tasked with the difficult job of delivering the painful news to 16 pro women volleyball athletes that the Las Vegas Thrill was shutting down.
But then Herrera, who had served as the team president, received a promising call a month later.
A local Henderson man who was a Thrill volleyball fan, Michael Landier, was interested in investing in the women’s pro team in hopes of rebooting the club that was being run by Major League Volleyball at the time when it ceased operations, Herrera told LVSportsBiz.com Monday.
Herrera told Landier everything about running the women’s team — a conversation that would lead to Monday’s announcement at the Lee’s Family Forum arena in Henderson.
Landier, executive producer and founder of indie film company Lanider Entertainment, said the Thrill will be back to playing volleyball at the suburban arena off the 215 beltway and will be one of 12 teams in Major League Volleyball when the league starts its upcoming eason in January.
Herrera said the person count was 513 coming through the arena doors for the upbeat reboot. There ere nine volleyball players in hand, including four Thrill players from the previous squad.
“We’re ready for a new chapter,” said Kendall White, a super upbeat Thrill player who played her college volleyball at Penn State. Even local Henderson product and former Thrill player Berkeley Oblad was among the nine.
In an interview after the presentation, Landier said ticket prices will start at the level of a Friday night movie cost — $20. When the first version of the Thrill played its inaugural season in 2024, the game ticket started in the $30s range and some fans observed it was too costly at the time.
Landier has hired the well-known Las Vegas PR company, R&R Partners, to help advertise the product and Herrera said he has already been in touch with R&R’s sports promotion guy, Rob Dondero. The team was founded in late 2023 and co-owned by former Las Vegas Sands executive Andy Abboud and former Nebraska Attorney General Jon Bruning, in partnership with the Foley Entertainment Group and City+Ventures.
Landier said Major League Volleyball does not allow him to disclose the amount of money he invested in the Thrill, but he called it a “significant investment.”
The Thrill’s new primary color, a vivid magenta, was on display in front of the fans. Some of the fans kept their old Thrill T-shirts and wore them to the 1:30 PM announcement.
If the Thrill’s ticket is in the $20-$40 range, it will compete against other family-style sports events like UNLV football and basketball, the Desert Dogs lacrosse team and other women’s pro sports like the WNBA Aces and the new professional hockey team. The Las Vegas metro market is a competitive market with a G League Ignite basketball team closing up shop in 2024 and United Soccer League’s Las Vegas Lights drawing a little more than 3,000 fans a game at Cashman Stadium in downtown Las Vegas.
The Thrill introduced its new coach, Rachel Morris, former associate head coach at the University of Indiana.
Volleyball is a growing girls sport across the nation and the team will recruit fans from suburban areas like Green Valley, Seven Hills, Anthem, Summerlin, and the 215 Beltway and St. Rose Parkway corridors throughout the Vegas Valley.
There is a core volleyball fan base in Las Vegas, but can the Thrill draw fans outside of the hardcore volleyball fan? The Lee’s Family Forum venue also is host to the minor league hockey Silver Knights, indoor football Knight Hawks, the lacrosse Desert Dogs and the Thrill.
PSA