The Las Vegas Lights CEO says the city’s swagger and Hispanic population can make his club into a success story in the Nevada desert

There’s not much of a soccer legacy in Las Vegas. The extent of it is the Quicksilvers, the itinerant team that only lasted for one NASL season in 1977. They had been the Baltimore Comets before transferring cross-country and becoming the magnificently-named San Diego Jaws. Then came the move to Nevada before they eventually returned to San Diego as the Sockers. It was all very Spinal Tap.

That solitary campaign in the desert was astoundingly underwhelming, notable only for the presence of an aged Eusebio in the Quicksilvers’ attack, his chronic knee problems ensuring he was little more than another faded Vegas attraction.



Still, it’s the lack of a soccer past that’s helping fuel the city’s latest attempt at developing and maintaining a professional team.

“We have no history,” says Brett Lashbrook, owner and CEO of the Las Vegas Lights. “We have a blank sheet of paper. In other countries, you don’t start new teams. For better or worse, you’re handcuffed by 100 years of history. It’s taking advantage of what we have over so many other teams around the world.”

This is the Lights’ first year of operation and the process has been radical. Plying their trade in the United Soccer League (USL), effectively the second-tier in the North American pyramid, they’ve certainly stood out.



Before the season started, a partnership with the Plaza Hotel was unveiled: each player would receive $100 in casino chips if the team scored three or more goals at home. Then, in April, the club announced a sponsorship with Nuwu Cannabis Marketplace, a local marijuana dispensary.



But it’s on game-day when everything gets ramped up a notch. Inside the dressing room, there’s a live DJ entertaining the players and staff. A pair of llamas - Dolly and Dotty – pose for pre-game photos and act as unofficial mascots. Before the season opener in March, one of the animals used the field as its own personal bathroom. The team’s actual mascot is Cash the Soccer Rocker, described previously by Lashbrook as “a Hispanic Elvis Presley, with a little Johnny Cash, driving on a Harley Davidson”.

Welcome to impossible: the Golden Knights and the NHL miracle that makes no sense Read more

Inevitably, there were dissenting voices, those who claimed the project is all just one big marketing gimmick. Earlier this year, Lashbrook poured more petrol on the flames by confirming the Lights were keen on signing Usain Bolt (the sprinter is now attempting to start his soccer career in Australia).



“We hear the sniggers. I get it. But bring it on,” says Lashbrook. “We’re not running from it. We’re not afraid of it. It’s good to have teams that are different. Whether you love us or hate us, we’re going to make you smile at some point. You’re going to want to tune in and see what’s next. You know when you come to Vegas that you’re in for a show and we’re going to do things differently.”



The Lights are attempting to capitalize on an inexplicable purple patch for the city’s previously non-existent relationship with pro sports. The city’s biggest success story in 2018 was the Vegas Golden Knights and their run to the Stanley Cup finals. But for much of the NHL season, some critics flippantly dismissed the expansion side as a gimmick and waited for the collapse.

Lashbrook wants something similar for the Lights.



“I’m an incredibly big believer that sports is also entertainment,” he says. “Vegas is 24/7, fast-paced, sexy, glitzy, a little gaudy, a little kitschy. And we’re fine with that. There’s no one in Las Vegas that’s embarrassed by Las Vegas. So we’ve found a way to have a swagger that you just can’t get in any other American city. And we think that’s our x-factor and we’re proud of it. I’m from Kansas City – they couldn’t pull off what we’re doing here.”

Facebook Twitter Pinterest The Golden Knights, Vegas’s first ‘Big Four’ franchise, have been a surprise NHL success, reaching the Stanley Cup finals in their first season. Photograph: Ethan Miller/Getty Images

So, what took so long? Why did Vegas remain on the fringes if the potential for growing successful, professional sports franchises in the city was so obvious?



“The pure hypocrisy of American pro sports and its relationship with regulated sports gaming,” Lashbrook replies, instantly. “For so long there was this taboo, this pure silliness of not wanting to bring pro sports to Vegas because of this outdated view of how gambling would affect it. Gambling is fully regulated here. Anytime there’s an issue it’s on the black market, not here. We bring it into the open.”

Much like the city itself, it’s been a season of extremes for Lashbrook’s squad, which includes one-time American prodigy Freddy Adu. For a while, the playoffs seemed achievable but the optimism has tailed off and finishing in the top-eight of the western conference will require a rapid upturn in results. Still, there have been positives.



Crucially, fans have consistently come through the turnstiles. Cashman Field, the downtown ballpark that doubles up as the Lights’ stadium, has a capacity of about 10,000 and, on average, it’s been three-quarters full for home games - no easy feat when fixtures take place on a Saturday night, around the same time Celine Dion, Jennifer Lopez, The Backstreet Boys and Mariah Carey are taking to stages just half an hour away on the Strip. It means the team is one of the best-supported in a league where feverish fan culture (Cincinnati is the best example) makes Major League Soccer’s top-brass stand up and take notice.



“Las Vegas was the second-largest city in the world without a professional soccer team,” Lashbrook says. “It didn’t take a genius to see there was a market opportunity. And just like any small or medium-sized business, it’s location, location, location. I realized there was a stadium in downtown Vegas that’s within walking distance of bars, casinos, nightlife, music. And this is a very young and a very working-class population of more than 2.2 million people.”

Lashbrook admits the Vegas Golden Knights have provided his club with a “road map” but feels soccer presents more opportunities than hockey to make a wider social statement - something he’s been keen to develop from the very start.



“God bless the Golden Knights,” he says. “What they’ve done is absolutely amazing and we’re fully supportive. But they and the sport of hockey is not as diverse and does not speak to a diverse community as much as soccer does. Bringing professional soccer to Vegas, we now have the ability to take that suburban soccer Mom in a mini-van, that downtown millennial hipster and that north Las Vegas working-class family and on Saturday night for 20 bucks, everyone can stand shoulder to shoulder and cheer for a team that has Las Vegas on its jersey and it means something.”

Played 26, lost 26: The story of Antigua Barracuda's record-breaking season Read more

Previously, Lashbrook worked at MLS headquarters and then became Chief Operating Officer with Orlando City SC as they transitioned from the USL to the big leagues. He saw things he felt could be improved upon. He kept hearing about a new America but he thought there was no meaningful commitment, just tokenistic gestures.

“From day one, I didn’t just want to pander to a Hispanic audience or to ingratiate them - I wanted to include them,” he says. It was very important to me to find a coach who was bilingual and who could provide some authenticity. It wasn’t going to be a traditional American soccer team. With our proximity to the Mexican border, there’s a large population of Mexican-Americans in southern Nevada and I think we’ve found a real market opportunity of bringing soccer in both countries closer together. We’re hosting a World Cup with Mexico, they are our neighbours to the south, they are a true soccer nation.”

In North American soccer, the Lights’ Isidro Sanchez is a rarity: a Mexican head coach. His father – the fiery, charismatic and vastly-experienced Jose Luis (better known as Chelis) – serves as the club’s technical director. There are 10 Mexican-born players in the squad while four are natives of Las Vegas.



“You can bring people from across the valley together,” Lashbrook says. “Soccer has the ability to do things that other sports just don’t.”

Becoming an MLS franchise is the objective but Lashbrook is realistic. He can only bring the team so far and knows only a sustained product will lead to making that step up. As much as it goes against the Vegas ethos, slow and steady will win the race. But, just like any other show in town, the immediate concern is getting bums on seats and keeping them there.

“I don’t have the money to write that big cheque,” he says. “I can get this machine started and have this great, sustainable second division club but we would need the community’s support to take it to the next level. There’s been a lot of interest in our initial success. There’s not been a shortage of people interested in supporting and working with us. But how do we get to MLS? Buy more tickets from me. It sounds so self-serving but it’s also the truth. If we fail in the USL, Major League Soccer is going to have no interest in coming here. There’s no doubt in my mind that if we put a compelling bid together they would be very keen. But we’ve got to take it one step at a time.”