Soccer may be coming to Sin City sooner than expected and the lead man responsible for this is none other than soccer legend David Beckham. At a recent meeting between Oakland Raiders owner Mark Davis and Las Vegas government officials, David Beckham added a new dynamic as to why the proposed $1.4 billion, 65,000 seat stadium should be built. Beckham argued that the stadium could generate revenue beyond just housing a football team by bringing European soccer clubs to Las Vegas for summer exhibition matches that could fill up the stadium and turn into weeklong festivities as well as maybe one day housing an MLS franchise. This argument should hit a cord with Las Vegas mayor Carolyn Goodman because she has been a longtime proponent of bringing an MLS team to one of the most renowned cities in the world. While a prospective ownership group has yet to approach the league office with a plan to bring the MLS to Las Vegas, if the stadium is built it is highly likely they will be able to find an MLS team to set its roots down because the MLS has been recently looking to aggressively expand from its current 20 size limit to 28 teams by the end of the decade.
Zlatan celebrating French League Cup title in Las Vegas
Furthermore, Vegas is already a popular destination for major international stars like Lionel Messi, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, and Cristiano Ronaldo. If marketed correctly, summer exhibition matches with star teams may not be too difficult to bring in because these star players with massive influence in their organizations have an incentive to combine work with play. What do you guys think about bringing soccer to Sin City?
Creditor, Avi. “What were Beckham, Leiweke doing talking MLS expansion in Las Vegas?” Sports Illustrated. 28 April 2016. http://www.si.com/planet-futbol/2016/04/28/beckham-leiweke-las-vegas-mls-expansion-raiders (accessed on 29 April 2016)
Kennedy, Paul. “Soccer gets new Vegas pitchman: David Beckham.” Soccer America Daily. 29 April 2016. http://www.socceramerica.com/article/68626/soccer-gets-new-vegas-pitchman-david-beckham.html (accessed on 29 April 2016)
Manzano, Glibert. “David Beckham makes pitch to bring soccer to Las Vegas.” Las Vegas Review-Journal. 28 April 2016. http://www.reviewjournal.com/sports/soccer/david-beckham-makes-pitch-bring-soccer-las-vegas (accessed on 29 April 2016)
Hi Austin,
Great post on this expansion opportunity. I think an expansion into the Las Vegas market is a very smart move for the MLS. I think you make some really good points about why this expansion is likely to be a success and want to add that I think the team would be able to attract sponsors with very deep pockets and the ever-increasing Hispanic population in Nevada. I recently read a book called “The Ball is Round” in which the author notes that much of an MLS team’s success rests on its ability to find big sponsors and draw in the Latino population. Based on the reasons you mentioned, I believe sponsors would be inclined to back the team, and numerous articles have stated that Nevada’s Hispanic population is rapidly growing (one example: http://www.reviewjournal.com/nevada-150/hispanic-population-increases-nevada-s-growth).
-Lo