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Bill Foley, big time investor is looking to plant roots in Las Vegas for the NHL in two seasons.
The lead investor in a bid to start a NHL team at the a privately financed arena on the Strip will stop at nothing to make Las Vegas home to a hockey team. Foleys Jacksonville, Fla. based mortgage and title company, other wise known as Fidelity National Financial is leading the charge to create a NHL expansion franchise for the 2016-17 season. He and his minority partners, the Maloof brothers of Las Vegas, formerly known as the owners to the Sacramento Kings, began a campaign in February to draw 10,000 season ticket deposits from Las Vegas residents.
Upon reaching upwards of 9,000 deposits, they plan to keep on selling deposits of $150-$900 even after they reach their $10,000-deposit goal which they are expected to reach by the end of March. The idea behind this? To show NHL team owners and league officials that Las Vegas is ready for big-league hockey. The ticket deposits only make up 10 percent of the season ticket deal, but they will be refunded if the NHL does not go through with Foleys plan.
The MGM-AEG arena where the League’s potential Las Vegas team will play is standing behind Foleys idea. The arena, scheduled to open in April 2016. will have over 17,000 seats for hockey fans.
Though Foley is looking for his team to begin playing by the 2016-17 season, he should keep in mind that the last time an NHL expansion was announced in 1997, both new teams in the League didn’t start playing until the 2000-01 season. Both of those teams were the Columbus Blue Jackets and the Minnesota Wild, which are still active today. There is a glimmer of hope for him though. He can draw inspiration from the Nashville Predators, who were granted to Nashville in June 1997, and started to play by the 1998-99 season.
Foley is going to have to receive NHL approval as soon as humanly possible to achieve a Nashville-esque expansion luck. Though it sounds like a lot of work, Foley shouldn’t have a tough time hiring a president, general manager, and a coach. He will also have to figure out a way to build a practice facility close to 175,000 square feet that will have to include two ice rinks, locker rooms, and medical/training facilities. The only problem with all of this? Not one NHL official has invited him to a single league meeting to discuss this idea.
Commissioner of the NHL, Gary Bettman was the only NHL official to attend the season ticket launch announcement at MGM Grand in February, and has known Foleys partners, the Maloofs, since his days as a legal executive with the NBA. Bettman can’t promise a team for Las Vegas, but he is privately monitoring the initiative and ticket deposit campaign.
