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Wrangling A Hockey Following in Sin City
Las Vegas has been hard on all kinds of sports, but particularly hockey. That is, until Charles Davenport rode into town with a hockey stick and a dream.

Marc David
MinorLeagueNews.com

LAS VEGAS - 01.25.04 - Charles Davenport heard the naysayers thinking on Las Vegas: "You'll never make a go of it with a minor league team," they said.

"Others have tried and failed.”

“What makes you think you'll be different?"

Patience & Planning

Davenport, chairman of Chandar Sports, and partner Jonathan Fleisig bought the Las Vegas franchise in 1998. Unlike fly-by-night sports operations that have opened and closed without much notice, the Wranglers hitting the ice today are the culmination of a five-year plan that minimized the chances of failure for the expansion ECHL franchise.

"We had a long time to get ready for this,” said Davenport. “You have to have a plan and execute it. People show up here at the 11th hour and think they're the only game in town so the fans will buy it. You've got to do your legwork. We did that…We didn't just show up in August, make a few phone calls and say we are making a long-term commitment… We had a staff in place by January 1 [2003] to get ready."

Davenport, a San Diego businessman who also owns the ECHL Fresno Falcons, admits that neither he nor his staff came in thinking they would be an immediate success. In fact, Davenport was a little uncertain at first.

”Realistically, I was hoping we could make it through a year and be here for the second year," Davenport said. "We wanted to get our foot in the door. There were so many who failed [before us] and we didn't want to be another."

A Different Kind of Crap Shoot

Davenport made his first visit to Las Vegas as a businessman in 1995 or 1996. He had been here before to gamble. He was already interested in designing hockey rinks, but he hadn't thought about investing in Las Vegas before then. What he saw during that mid-1990s visit was an eye-opener.

”When I first saw the market, I couldn't believe the potential that was here," Davenport said. "It got me very excited. I never realized how big this city was…What there was to do here [besides gambling]."

Las Vegas Caverns: The Thomas & Mack Devours Teams

Davenport knew pro hockey teams like the Las Vegas Thunder, and basketball franchises like the IBL Silver Bandits had failed largely because they played at the cavernous Thomas & Mack Center.

Even with curtains drawn over the larger arena, the easy availability of good seats meant that fans wouldn't buy tickets until the last minute.

The location of the Thomas & Mack is great for UNLV basketball. For teams trying to attract both locals and visitors, who start from scratch with no college behind them and no community following, the T&M can be death.

Ice in the Hottest Spot on the Strip

The Las Vegas Strip is where the action is. If it’s entertainment, from tigers to titillation, you’ll find it here. The casino-built Orleans Arena at the Hotel Orleans sits in the heart of the new Las Vegas.

It provides a more reasonable size and location that teams like the Pacific Coast League 51s, stuck on the periphery of the old Las Vegas, only dream about.

There is a world-class hotel adjacent to the arena, one of many within walking distance. It’s one the league's finest venues.

Wranglers Hockey Beats the Odds

By minor league standards in Sin City, the Wranglers are a boffo smash. The team has consistently been in the top five in attendance [in the ECHL], averaging 4,500+ per game.

"It's certainly exceeding what we expected,” Davenport says. “It's not a mistake that we have been in or near first place all season.”

"We're No. 5 in attendance, which is pretty amazing to me since we don't give away tickets or fudge attendance," Davenport said. "You don't just show up here at 7 o'clock on Friday and think you're going to sit at the glass. There's a premium for seats."

6,412 fans were on hand January 8 for a game with the Peoria Rivermen. An estimated one hundred fifty fans from a booster club were from Peoria.

"The unique thing about Las Vegas is that people from other cities call us to bring groups to our games," Davenport says. "That's great for the hotel, it's great for us and it's great for the league. Those [fans from Peoria] got our fans pumped up. You can sense the rivalry. I like it. They are having a great time."

Jersey Commitments & Season Ticket Dreams

What really brings a smile to Davenport's face is the Wranglers sportswear he sees at the games. It gives him the sense about the commitment from the Las Vegas fans when he sees people wearing jerseys.

"The barometer about how passionate these fans are? When you see people wearing the jerseys which can run to $100," Davenport says. "You see them wearing their hats, and plunking down $1,000 for season tickets. It says something about what they think about their team."

According to Josh Fisher, director of broadcasting and media relations, the team has twice sold out of jerseys. He also noted that the team sold close to 2,400 season tickets, which bested their goal of between 1,500 and 2,000.

The Wranglers out-draw Davenport’s ECHL Fresno Falcons. The Falcons are averaging around 4,500 at the new Save Mart Center on the Fresno State University campus. Davenport figures that the Falcons, who got a late start on ticket sales because the building wasn't ready at the beginning of the season, will see a boost in attendance as they have so many upcoming home games.

The mayor of Las Vegas likes talking major league sports. He thinks Vegas can handle the majors and the sports books.

While odds are that Pete Rose won’t be coaching the Expos here any time soon, the minor leagues can make up a small slice of a local economy saturated with every imaginable form of entertainment.

The tough sell that Davenport anticipated hasn't materialized. Like real estate, minor league teams live or die by location, location, location. The Wranglers have a wonderful arena in a hot part of town, an exciting team and a fan base that is establishing loyalty. That keeps doors open.