If third time’s the charm, Outlaws might have the right man

If the third time really is a charm, the Las Vegas Outlaws just might have the right man.

The Outlaws, who kick off their inaugural season in the Arena Football League at 7:30 p.m. Monday at the Thomas and Mack Center against the San Jose SaberCats, are owned by Motley Crue lead singer Vince Neil, a 20-year Las Vegas resident who says he knows the secret to a lasting marriage between the AFL and the city.

In 1994, the Sting played at the MGM Grand Garden Arena before moving to the Thomas and Mack Center in 1995, then relocating to Anaheim, Calif. From 2003 to 2007, the Gladiators played at the Thomas and Mack and then Orleans Arena before moving to Cleveland.

“The main thing was, it wasn’t Las Vegas people running those organizations, and I think that was the biggest mistake,” Neil said Saturday in a telephone interview before doing a solo concert in Calgary, Alberta. “I think you have to know what’s going on with the team and know how to get the word out, what the right and wrong things to do are. Those guys weren’t hands on.”

Neil has been hands on since the league awarded Las Vegas its third franchise in August.

He said he’s felt like “a proud papa” watching the Outlaws progress from the infancy stage and has been experiencing the same excitement that builds before he steps on stage for a concert. Throughout training camp, his Rolls Royce could be seen parked front and center at the practice facility, watching the Outlaws prepare for the season.

”We sit down and we actually talk,” Outlaws coach Aaron Garcia said. “He wants to know about the players, he wants to get to know the players, and I think that makes him different than a lot of owners. He’s not in there trying to manage us or tell us what to do or who we should play or anything like that, but he’s definitely interested. And I think that rubs off on the players, in this league especially when sometimes you’re not treated as professionally as you should be, to have your ownership group care about you means a lot, and you’re gonna go out and fight a lot harder.”

Neil said he is a die-hard football fan who has his own private section at Red Rock to watch NFL games. In fact, Garcia said when he first met Neil about the job, it was in a casino during a game.

“He watches NFL football from eight in the morning until eight at night,” Garcia said. “He knows football, and more importantly, he loves football. You got somebody like Vince Neil involved, and hopefully he brings a credibility in a sense that he’s part of Vegas already, he believes in Vegas and obviously he loves Vegas. From Day One, this has been about Vegas and entertainment, and that’s what we’re here to do.”

Neil, a minority owner for the Jacksonville Sharks last year, has good friend and partner Bob Hewko to rely on. Hewko has the most experience of the Outlaws’ ownership, as he has worked in the Arena Football League in some capacity since 1993.

“We want Las Vegas coming to games, and we’re going to get involved with the community to get them involved with our guys,” Hewko said. “We want this to be Las Vegas’ team and have Las Vegas written all over it. We have a good team, we have great players who are good role models. The coach is a good role model. We want the community to be No. 1. We want it so you walk out after 2½ hours of entertainment, not just football.”

For instance, Carrot Top will be at midfield for the coin toss tonight, and Zowie Bowie will perform at halftime. The home games will feature Las Vegas personalities in some capacity, either partaking in the pregame coin flip, or halftime entertainment — as if it were the Super Bowl.

There is wide speculation that Neil has something up his sleeve for a May 4 nationally televised game against the LA Kiss, who are owned by Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley from the rock band KISS.

“It’s cool putting things like that together; we have a lot of surprise guests,” Neil said. “We are trying to keep it very local, so there will be a Las Vegas touch to the coin flip, the halftime entertainment. I just want to encompass Las Vegas and everyone come out and enjoy the Outlaws.”

Said Garcia: “Vegas is the perfect place, if we set this up and don’t try to be something we’re not. This is a party with a football game going on. We’re going to do a lot of fun things, and that’s what we’re trying to market to, is the Vegas community and their family and friends to come out and have a good time.”