Professional poker player and avid hockey fan Daniel Negreanu is championing a push to bring an National Hockey League (NHL) team to Las Vegas.
Negreanu has identified himself as one of the founding members of Founding 75, a group of business people in Las Vegas that are pushing to generate interest among people to commit on making down payment on season tickets. The group is determined to collect 10,000 deposits after the ticket drive, the threshold the NHL suggested in sanctioning the trial ticket run last December 2014.
According to ESPN, if the campaign is successful and the city somehow gets awarded an expansion franchise, the deposits, which range from $150 to $900 for specific seats and season-ticket packages, will be non-refundable. If the league ends up giving the city the equivalent of a body check, then the deposits would be returned back to the people who shelled out the money.
The group is pushing to convince the NHL that a Las Vegas team would be able to thrive in the city, despite its status as America’s premier gambling town. For one, the team will have no issues finding a new arena to play in given that one is already being built by AEG and MGM Resorts International. That arena can accommodate as much as 17,500 fans and is scheduled to be completed by the spring of 2016, giving it a few months to prepare for the 2016-2017 season.
The group, which Negreanu is a part of, is trying to pool up the collective interest of individuals and small-business owners instead of going after major casino operators. The belief is that the NHL would strongly consider giving Las Vegas an NHL team if it sees that there’s overwhelming interest from local residents and businesses. The drive to bring an NHL team in Las Vegas is real and Founding 75 is aggressively pushing to make it happen. The group is already spreading its reach to social media and has even set up temporary office space in the city, which will house office staff who will follow up with potential ticket buyers.
The stakes are high and the league is likely keeping a close eye on what happens during the ticket drive. If it works out, then the league would likely have discussions on the possibility of putting a team in Las Vegas, specifically the financial windfall all existing owners stand to receive from the imposed $450 million expansion fees. But if the drive struggles to gain any traction from local residents and business owners, then any chance of Las Vegas having its own NHL team could be put to pasture.
