Image Credit: Tomas Del Coro (CC BY-SA 2.0)
Professional sports has finally arrived in Sin City. The National Hockey League's 31st team will be known as the Vegas Golden Knights; the NHL's first expansion team since 2000. No one thought hockey would be the first sport to land in the desert, however, Las Vegas businessman and Golden Knights owner Bill Foley fell in love with the sport many years ago and has teamed up with the Maloof Family to make his dream a reality.
The unveiling of the team name, team logo and color scheme were unveiled in late November at Toshiba Plaza outside of T-Mobile Arena. The team's colors will be grey, red, black and gold. Foley, a graduate of West Point, considered naming the team the Black Knights but that didn't go over so well with Army officials. Foley paid a whopping $500 million expansion fee to join the National Hockey League as a new franchise. More than 13,000 season ticket deposits have already been submitted for the 2017 NHL season. Brand new T-Mobile Arena will be the home of the Golden Knights and has a capacity of just over 17,000 seats.
If you plan on being a fan of the Vegas Golden Knights, the most important date to look forward to in the near future is the expansion and new player drafts in June of 2017. During that week, fans will be able to get a better idea of what the inaugural Vegas team will look like player wise. NHL expansion teams rarely fare well during their first few years of league play.
Many sports fans in Nevada were frustrated that the mascot "Golden Knights" didn't have any ties to the city of Las Vegas or the history of the gaming industry. The Las Vegas Aces was a popular suggestion throughout the city. However, Las Vegas residents should be very thankful that the city was able to secure a franchise. Cities like Seattle, Kansas City and Quebec City have been fighting tooth and nail for an NHL franchise for several years now. In order to secure a franchise, all aspects of the expansion process had to be fulfilled whether it be the construction of T-Mobile Arena, the perseverance of Foley and the Knights' ownership group or the dedicated fans who purchased season ticket deposits.
To learn more about the Vegas Golden Knights, please visit the team's website at NHL.com/GoldenKnights. The organization also now has merchandise available for purchase.
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