MGM exec: NHL may vote on Vegas expansion in September

The National Hockey League Board of Governors could vote on a Las Vegas franchise bid in September for a 2017-18 season start, the MGM International executive overseeing arena operations and the company’s new Strip arena said Friday.

At a media tour of the arena project, Mark Prows, MGM’s senior vice president of arenas, said the board will “socialize” with Bill Foley’s franchise team during its June meeting in Las Vegas, and could hold a formal vote on Foley’s expansion team proposal when it next meets, in September.

Las Vegas’ push for an NHL franchise is lead by Foley, a title insurance company chairman with various business interests. Foley’s ongoing effort to secure season ticket deposits to prove the economic viability of a franchise has been endorsed by NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman, who visited Las Vegas for the campaign in February.

Bettman said recently that an expansion team fee of $500 million would be reasonable.

The NHL team would play in the new $375 million arena being built by the MGM Resorts International-Anschutz Entertainment Group (AEG) partnership behind New York-New York. Both Prows and Foley have said they have a lease agreement for the facility, which would seat 17,500 for hockey. It is expected to open April 1.

Neither Foley nor Bettman could not be reached for comment Friday.

NHL spokesman Frank Brown said the Board of Governors will receive a report on the franchise interest in June, but he did not acknowledge any possible vote on a Las Vegas team at the September meeting.

“We are going to report to the board in June on the status of franchise interest,” Brown wrote in an email. “Beyond that, nothing has been decided and, at this point, any suggestion to the contrary is nothing more than speculation or perhaps wishful thinking.”

Foley is partnering with the Maloof brothers, who would own a minority stake in the team. The Maloofs owned the NBA Sacramento Kings from 1998-2013 and are working on local marketing efforts to build support for an NHL team in the Las Vegas market.

Foley launched a season ticket deposit drive nearly three months ago to show NHL officials that Las Vegas is ready for big-league hockey. His campaign has garnered at least 11,000 ticket deposits.

Foley recently told local hockey fans at a meet-and-greet at Suncoast that the team colors have been chosen — black, gold and gray. Those are the colors of the U.S. Military Academy of West Point; Foley is a 1967 West Point graduate.

Foley still needs to build a training rink facility and would have to hire a general manager, coach and scouting staff if gets the franchise green light from the NHL.

Contact Alan Snel at asnel@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-5273. Find him on Twitter: @BicycleManSnel