The newly relocated Las Vegas WNBA franchise will begin play in the 2018 season. New owners MGM Resorts will integrate a professional franchise into Las Vegas’ busy sports landscape that’s shared with the 51s, Lights FC, Golden Knights and Raiders. Here are some of the expectations and challenges the team will have. 1. Ticket prices: The key to any sports franchise is selling season tickets and group outings. For Las Vegas’ team, that starts with locals. “(You don’t) just open the doors and tell everybody you’ve got a game and stand there waiting to sell tickets,” 51s president Don Logan said. “You’ve got to get out, you’ve got to get out into the community and you’ve got to do everything we do. There’s no easy way.” Last year, San Antonio charged $12 to $165 for single-game tickets for 17 home games. 2. Creating an identity: Coach Bill Laimbeer inherits a team from San Antonio that hasn’t made the playoffs or had a winning season since 2012. Las Vegas’ team is also a franchise that lost its first 14 games last season before finishing a league-worst 8-26. 3. Patience will be required: Will they have to fill all 12,000 seats at Mandalay Bay for the season to be deemed successful? “They have to be realistic,” Connecticut Sun CEO Mitchell Etess said. “If they could get 5,000 bodies into every single game, that would be pretty good for the first year.”
