Foley formally files application for Las Vegas NHL franchise
Prospective NHL team owner Bill Foley submitted his application to the National Hockey League on Monday for a team in Las Vegas that would play at the new arena being built behind New York-New York on the Strip.
Foley told the Las Vegas Review-Journal that he also submitted the required $10 million application fee.
The official applicant is Black Knight Sports and Entertainment LLC, with Foley serving as the managing member. The Black Knight reference pays tribute to Foley’s days as a cadet at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, where the sports teams were known as the Black Knights.
The NHL Board of Governors plan to meet in September and it is possible that the league’s ruling board could vote on Foley’s application. If the NHL approves Foley’s bid for an expansion franchise, the team could potentially start in the 2017-18 season.
Foley, and his minority business partners, the Maloof brothers of Las Vegas, would pay a minimum $500 million expansion fee in order for a Las Vegas team to join the NHL.
Foley and the Maloofs, who owned the Sacramento Kings for 15 years before selling the NBA team in 2013, staged a season ticket deposit campaign this year that has resulted in more than 13,500 deposits.
The new $375 million arena being built by MGM Resorts International and Anschutz Entertainment Group (AEG) would house 17,500 fans for hockey. The arena is scheduled to open April 1.
A Quebec City group also filed an application with the NHL on Monday.
