Las Vegas pro lacrosse team reveals name, logo

Every dog has its day and for Las Vegas’ National Lacrosse League team, Monday was that occasion.

Desert Dogs CEO Mark Fine said the name was chosen from among over 2,500 fan submissions on the team’s website. The name stood out because it’s a representation of both the organization and the community.

“We believe the Desert Dog is a perfect embodiment of Las Vegas — fast, scrappy, and powerful alone but unstoppable as a pack,” Fine told the Review-Journal. “The pack mentality represents qualities of teamwork, loyalty, humility and hard work. It’s also the perfect embodiment of our team and our business — we move fast and innovate quickly, we’re scrappy and entrepreneurial, and we also have a pack mentality that means we look after our own, including our community here in Vegas.”

The ownership group includes Brooklyn Nets owner Joseph Tsai, NHL great Wayne Gretzky, former NBA MVP and current Nets head coach Steve Nash and PGA Tour star Dustin Johnson.

The team has been working on the final name, logo and team direction for the last few months leading up to Monday’s unveiling.

The team will look to conduct business the same, on and off the field, as they look to find their niche in the professional sports landscape in Las Vegas.

“We look at everything — from our branding, to hiring, to ticket pricing, to our sales pitches, to how we activate/work with our partners, and to how we’ll put together a winning team — from a first-principles basis,” Fine said. “We believe that, in order to win on and off the turf, we need to always be faster, more innovative, and more analytically oriented than our peers.”

The team will be out in the community often, helping grow the game of lacrosse in the valley and helping the city as a whole. “We really care about being forward-thinking within the community,” Fine said.

In addition to announcing the team name and logo, Fine also introduced the man who will coach the squad.

First-ballot NLL Hall of Famer (2021) Shawn Williams was also named Monday as the coach and general manager of the Desert Dogs. Williams played both box and field lacrosse during his 17-year pro career.

“He brings an incredible amount of expertise to the marketplace,” Fine said. “You’re going to see Shawn out and about in the community.”

The team is excited to introduce the Las Vegas Valley to the “fastest game on two feet” when they begin play in December at Michelob Ultra Arena inside the Mandalay Bay.

“Box lacrosse is really fun to watch in person,” Fine said. “It’s high scoring, it’s hard hitting. The clock always seems to be running. So it goes really fast. The average game time is about 2 hours and 15 minutes… It is similar to hockey… it makes us think that we’re really going to tap into a great audience.”

Contact Mick Akers at makers@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2920. Follow @mickakers on Twitter.