MGM Resorts International is in preliminary talks with a group looking to bring an NHL team to Las Vegas, Howard Stutz of the Las Vegas Review-Journal reports.
MGM, in partnership with AEG, also known as Anschutz Entertainment Group, is already in the process of building a $350 million sports arena in the area behind New York-New York hotel and casino on the Strip.
Coincidentally, AEG's Philip Anschutz owns the NHL's Los Angeles Kings and is a major player in NHL circles.
"In an interview following MGM Resorts' third-quarter earnings conference call, company CFO Dan D'Arrigo said preliminary discussions had taken place with a group interested in housing an NHL team at the MGM-AEG arena, which will have 20,000 seats, along with luxury boxes and other amenities," Stutz writes.
There is not yet word on whether the group is looking to relocate an already established franchise or to create an expansion team.
If the NHL does land in Vegas, a potentially logical move for the league would be to relocate the perennially bankrupt and downtrodden Arizona Coyotes.
"We would be supportive of an NHL team coming to our arena," D'Arrigo said, per Stutz. "We're highly interested and we have been in discussions with a group."
The arena is expected to open in 2016. It has been reported by a variety of national media outlets that an NHL team would land there.
"We're in discussion and talks over many attractions, events, boxing and other entertainment for the arenas," D'Arrigo said.
The project, while well-funded, faces a number of serious questions, as outlined by Adam Proteau of The Hockey News.
How will hockey be marketed in a place such as Las Vegas? Will the team and the sport be able to stay relevant?
Warm-weather climates have proven consistently difficult for the NHL to prosper in. Some - like Dallas and Tampa Bay - have done extremely well. Others - like Arizona, Florida, Atlanta and Nashville - have had issues developing and maintaining a particularly strong fan base.
Previous failures like Kansas City, Cleveland and Hartford prove the hurdles the NHL will face should this plan come to fruition.
Though, with companies as wealthy as MGM and AEG backing it, an NHL team in Vegas may be able to avoid this pratfall.
