Hopeful NHL Owner Suggests Las Vegas Franchise Might Come Soon
Hopeful NHL team owner Bill Foley sent out his pitch to prospective ticket buyers in Las Vegas.
According to Bill Foley, ‘the time is now’.
Last month, the NHL board of governors met for their annual meeting in Boca Raton, Florida. One of the topics they discussed at the meeting was the possibility and ideas for league expansion. That is why Bill Foley was present at the meeting, to make his pitch for the NHL team he wants in Las Vegas.
During the discussion, Foley proposed the idea to the board to launch a prospective ticket sales campaign to the people in Las Vegas. This way, it would give Foley, the board, and commissioner Gary Bettman an idea of how much interest there would be for an NHL team in Las Vegas. Bettman and the board approved of the idea, and Foley has started his campaign.
Earlier today, Foley sent out emails to prospective ticket buyers that he will be holding a ticket drive early next year to garner interest and collect deposits for season tickets for the 2016-17 NHL season. Next season would be too soon to get an expansion team together, that is why he is collecting for the 2016-17 season. He states that ‘Las Vegas is a hockey city’, and ‘the time is now’ to show them.
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While a lot people may see this and think that a team in Las Vegas is set in stone because they’re selling tickets, that couldn’t be farther from the truth. While an NHL team in Vegas may very well happen, it is nowhere near to a done deal. This is merely Foley doing market research to find out if Las Vegas will garner enough interest to hold an NHL franchise. When the campaign is finished, Foley will present his research to Bettman and the board. If the research shows sufficient interest, then they will move on to the next of many steps to take to get an NHL franchise in Las Vegas. If the research shows that there is just not enough interest, it will definitely be put on hold and maybe even squash the idea altogether.
As Bettman said after the board of governors meetings, there are a lot of variables that go into expansion and awarding a city with an NHL franchise. Public interest in the location is just one of many variables, but a very important variable. If there isn’t sufficient interest, then there is absolutely no reason to expand to that city. Even if there is sufficient interest, it does not guarantee that location to be awarded an NHL franchise.
We will just have to wait and see exactly how much interest Foley draws from his campaign.
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