Skip navigation
Favorites
Sign up to follow your favorites on all your devices.
Sign up

Foley: NHL has ‘no objection’ as Vegas begins selling tickets to casinos

Las Vegas

The next key phase of Las Vegas’ ticket drive is underway.

Prospective owner Bill Foley said his group has started selling season ticket deposits to corporations and casinos for the first time since commencing its drive in mid-February, per the Review-Journal. What’s more, Foley said the NHL “had no objection” to the new sales approach, this after his group reportedly sold 9,000 season ticket packages to individual fans.

Now, the focus shifts to casinos and corporations.

Those sectors are the financial strength of Vegas’ expansion bid, with regards to both ticket sales and potential sponsorship agreements. But it was important for the group to also identify a strong, traditional fanbase -- at the NHL’s urging.

“When they designed their ticket drive, they did it with our input and basically we told them what we’d like to see is how many local, non-corporate fans they can get to put up real money without a promise of having a NHL team,” NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly said earlier this month, per Sportsnet. “If you look at it through that lens, I think the response has been good.

“Because if you add to that what they probably have already in corporate and casino commitments, they basically have a full building.”

More, from the Review-Journal:

Foley’s season ticket campaign reached 9,000 on March 15. And based on the steady rate of fans paying the minimum $150 for a season ticket commitment, it appears as if Foley would have hit his 10,000 goal by now. But Foley declined to comment on reaching the 10,000 milestone, saying that there will be an announcement in the next few weeks.

Prospective numbers regarding potential casino/corporate purchases have yet to be released, but they figure to be significant. Under the previous phase of the ticket drive, individuals were allowed to place a maximum of 24 season ticket deposits; per Foley, 98 percent of those deposits were for eight seats or less.

The MGM-AEG arena, situated on the strip and still under construction, will reportedly hold 17,500 for NHL contests.