From Kings to Golden Knights: Maloofs’ day changed Vegas history

George Maloof is calling. It is urgent.

“We can’t get in,” Maloof says, from an undisclosed location just outside T-Mobile Arena about two hours before Game 5 of the Stanley Cup Final. “We don’t have credentials.”

Maloof is usually the person you need to know to get into a place. But as they say, rules are rules.

Security might be tight at T-Mobile Arena, but the Maloof brothers — Joe, Gavin and George — are loose before Game 5 of the Stanley Cup Final. The Maloofs’ credentials are, they own 15 percent of the Vegas Golden Knights.

The brothers talked their way in, explaining they are invested (and more than emotionally) in the team.

You could argue, and we will, that without the Maloofs, there might not be a Golden Knights franchise in Vegas. The brothers initiated the first formal conversation about what would become the Golden Knights with NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman a decade ago.

The meeting turned out well. For evidence, check the scoreboard, and also the Stanley Cup, being paraded around T-Mobile Arena after the Golden Knights’ clinching 9-3 victory Tuesday over the Florida Panthers.

That day in 2013 that would change the trajectory of sports in Las Vegas began a little woefully. The three Maloof brothers, who were actually the first spectators allowed into T-Mobile on Tuesday, talked of that experience in VIP Suite 11.

“I was a little sick to my stomach, to be honest.” Joe Maloof says. The illness came about as he and Gavin were finishing the sad task of selling the Sacramento Kings, appearing before the NBA Board of Governors. “It was so hard to be selling the Kings.”

The brothers walked it off, for real, hoofing it to their next destination, NHL headquarters, where they met league commissioner Gary Bettman.

The Maloofs had known Bettman from his days as a league attorney with the NBA. Their father, George Maloof Sr., owned the Houston Rockets from 1979-‘82.

“We literally walked from selling the Kings to meeting Gary Bettman and Bill Daly, the deputy commissioner, and a number of people around them,” Joe says. “We wanted to bring a team to Las Vegas, a team meant for our city. And he said, ‘I’ve been trying to get you guys in the league for 30 years.”

Joe and Gavin told Bettman about selling the Kings, you know, to start the day. Bettman was aware. He was also mindful that Las Vegas had no arena suitable for an NHL team. The brothers were confident that the arena MGM Resorts International and entertainment conglomerate AEG were developing could be home to an NHL team.

The Maloofs were in this to invest, but not as majority partners.

“We were not interested in being majority owners, again,” Gavin says. “That is a lot to take on.”

“But we wanted to be involved,” Joe says, finishing the thought. “And we wanted to bring a team to Las Vegas.”

Bettman mentioned “a guy in Jacksonville,” named Bill Foley. “You should meet with him,” Joe says. “So we flew to Jacksonville, and met with him, and he liked us, I guess (laughs).”

The Maloofs say they hit a roadblock when the high-level execs at MGM Resorts didn’t want to lock up this arena on the Strip for an NHL schedule.

“So they say, ‘Well, we don’t want a team, because we need those weekends for concerts,” Gavin says. “Joe and I look at each other and say, ‘Really?’ These executives are no longer there, but they turned it down, believe it or not. And then we went to (today’s MGM Resorts Chairman) Bill Hornbuckle, and he liked the idea of a team. But in the first meeting, they didn’t want it.”

The Maloofs are originally from Albuquerque, but their commitment to Las Vegas is palpable.

Nearly 30 years ago, the family opened the Fiesta Rancho in North Las Vegas, selling it after six years to develop the Palms, which opened in November 2001.

The Maloofs, primarily George, operated that property — and later Palms Place — for a decade. The family sold its ownership stake in the Palms in 2011 to private equity firms Leonard Green & Partners LP and TPG Capital.

The Maloofs remained involved in the Vegas community, though most of their activity has been in the background. They came close to winning a ring with the Rockets in 1981 losing to the Celtics. They won a championship in 2005 as owners of the Sacramento Monarchs of the WNBA.

“We’ve been in sports a long time, and have had a lot of opportunities,” Gavin says. “To be a part of this team, in Las Vegas, is just amazing.”

John Katsilometes’ column runs daily in the A section. His “PodKats!” podcast can be found at reviewjournal.com/podcasts. Contact him at jkatsilometes@reviewjournal.com. Follow @johnnykats on Twitter, @JohnnyKats1 on Instagram.