Photo Credit: @PWHL_LasVegas on X/Twitter
When the Vegas Golden Knights entered the National Hockey League, no one thought they would be any good. In fact, it was the exact opposite. Everyone, from fans to writers to analysts, took one look at the roster and said, ‘Now this is going to be a lottery team.’ There is a very real chance that the Las Vegas PWHL team will prompt similar reactions— although, without knowing what that roster looks like, it’s impossible to say for certain.
Awarding Las Vegas a PWHL expansion team is a gamble worthy of… well, Las Vegas, and that has nothing to do with the roster composition. Sin City and San Jose will become the first two markets to gain a PWHL expansion team without first hosting a neutral-site ‘Takeover Tour’ game. That’s a big deal.
Both of the 2025-26 expansion teams— Seattle and Vancouver— hosted PWHL ‘Takeover Tour’ games that were heavily attended and wildly successful. Detroit has hosted four, including the first ‘Takeover Tour’ game, with a combined attendance of 53,586. Even Hamilton had the opportunity to host a ‘Takeover Tour’ game and did so in front of a whopping 16,012 fans.
If you think that placing an expansion team in a market that thrives on tourism is a risk, your concerns are valid. But the fact of the matter is that over 3 million people call the Las Vegas metropolitan area home. Yes, transplants make up a large majority of that population, but this is a city bursting with pride for its sports teams.
When the Golden Knights came to Vegas back in 2017, outside expectations did nothing to deter the fans from showing up and showing out. Now, nearly a decade later, the city has the opportunity to rally around the soon-to-be-named Vegas PWHL team in a similar fashion.
I don’t see any reason to believe that they won’t. Because, like it or not, Las Vegas is a sports town.
Some people balk at that notion, citing the Las Vegas Raiders as proof of factual inaccuracy. And, sure, no one really cares about the Raiders— but in their defense, the Raiders are terrible, and were terrible long before they relocated to Vegas. In the past 23 years, the Raiders have gone 131-242, been at .500 just five times, and lost in the Wild Card round both times they squeaked into the playoffs. And the Raiders didn’t exactly turn the ship around once they moved to Vegas ahead of the 2020 season; in those six seasons, they’ve gone 39-62.
My point is this: in a town funded by the despair and misplaced hopes of gamblers, it makes sense for the fans to adopt a ‘Show Me’ attitude, and the Raiders simply haven’t shown them.
But some teams have shown them.
Look at the Las Vegas Aces. They’re the reigning WNBA champs, back-to-back and back again. And because of that success, thousands of fans flock to Michelob ULTRA Arena every night, paying a premium price for parking and braving the ‘thick tobacco smoke’ that hangs around the casino in Mandalay Bay. Not even Vadim Shipachyov can say that much.
And, speaking of Vadim Shipachyov– if you need another example of Vegas being a sports town, look no further than the aforementioned Golden Knights. Despite icing a roster that experts thought would compete for nothing more than the first overall pick, the 2017-18 Golden Knights ended up being a team of destiny. As it was, they came up just short— their miraculous run ended in a five-game loss to the Washington Capitals in the Stanley Cup Final— but to strip the Golden Knights of their ‘team of destiny’ label because of the result would be madness.
T-Mobile Arena has a seating capacity of 17,500 for hockey games. The Golden Knights sold far more than 17,500 seats in their first home game, which was due in no small part to the horrific acts that took place on October 1st, 2017. The community needed a distraction from the world, and hockey offered that in spades. After falling in love with the way the team rallied around them, the fans, in turn, rallied around the team. Now, nine years later, no one pays PA announcer Bruce Cusick any mind when he announces the attendance. That’s not because they don’t like him— it’s because they already know that whatever number he says will surpass 17,500 and be recorded as a sell out.
The Golden Knights continue to sell out because they are a good team with a history of success. But back in 2017, they weren’t supposed to be, and they still filled the arena. And that, ladies and gentlemen, is because people cared, and still do.
Now, they are being asked to care again. And if the past has taught us anything, it’s that Las Vegas will rise to the occasion.
Jamie Hersch said it best:
Women’s hockey is growing, thriving, and finding new homes in communities that are ready to embrace it. And there is no question that Las Vegas is ready… We are ready to help write the next great chapter of women’s hockey. -Hersch
