Sports in the Las Vegas metropolitan area

The Athletics of Major League Baseball (MLB) plan to move to Las Vegas to play at a new ballpark which is estimated to be complete by 2028 after relocating from Oakland and West Sacramento, California.

Las Vegas was one of the largest cities in the United States without a major league sports team prior to the entry of the Golden Knights into the NHL.

[4] In addition, some potential owners believed a professional sports franchise would have difficulty gaining an audience, given Las Vegas's numerous entertainment options.

[citation needed] Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban was also quoted saying that Las Vegas would be a good professional sports town.

While the Thomas & Mack Center and MGM Grand Garden Arena were large enough on paper to host an NBA or NHL team, they were only suitable for temporary use due to age and/or design issues.

Harrah's Entertainment CEO Gary Loveman said in a June 2009 article in the Las Vegas Business Press that his company was still committed to building the arena, but it was delayed by a lack of financing.

On April 6, 2010, the Las Vegas Review-Journal reported that three proposals had been made to build an arena of approximately 20,000 seats on or near the Strip to host professional basketball and hockey, rodeo, concerts and other events.

[5] On November 5, 2013, Las Vegas news media reported plans for a joint-venture arena to be built on the Strip with the backing parties being AEG and MGM Resorts.

The Golden Knights also became the first NHL expansion team since the St. Louis Blues to reach the Stanley Cup Finals in their first season only to lose to the Washington Capitals.

The Golden Knights would later go on to win the 2023 Stanley Cup Finals over the Florida Panthers, giving the Las Vegas metropolitan area and the state of Nevada its first championship from the Big Four.

It carried through the years with an annual preseason exhibition game called Frozen Fury which was held at the MGM Grand Garden Arena.

[13] The Athletics of Major League Baseball (MLB) plan to relocate to Las Vegas when their new $1.5 billion 33,000-seat ballpark is projected to be completed by 2028.

[16][17] This was later modified to have the new ballpark built on the site of the Tropicana Las Vegas resort and casino in a joint venture with Bally's Corporation with the team eventually reaching an agreement with the state of Nevada and Clark County to provide public funding for the project with a completion date of 2028.

[18][19] The stadium agreement then received a bill known as SB1 which was approved by most legislators in the Nevada Legislature by June 2023 during a special session and signed into law by Governor Joe Lombardo.

The NBA and WNBA officially approved the sale on October 17, 2017, and announced the Las Vegas Aces would play at the Mandalay Bay Events Center, now known as Michelob Ultra Arena, starting in the 2018 season.

[32] The All Net Arena saw its groundbreaking ceremony on October 29, 2014,[6] and Robinson entered into negotiations with Clark County expecting to begin construction by Fall 2015.

The 2008 and 2012 United States men's Olympic basketball teams trained in Las Vegas, and played a game at the Thomas & Mack Center against the Dominican Republic.

[40] According to Tim Leiweke, CEO of Oak View Group, it would be a prime location for future growth in Las Vegas' gaming and entertainment corridor.

[41] The local media reported in the summer of 2008 that Las Vegas was on the short list of cities Major League Soccer (MLS) was considering for an expansion franchise in the near future.

In 2020, the Las Vegas area became home of an American Hockey League franchise when the San Antonio Rampage relocated to the market as the Henderson Silver Knights.

The team which is minor league affiliate of the Golden Knights played in Orleans Arena until the venue now known as Lee's Family Forum was constructed in Henderson.

In 2022, the Vegas Knight Hawks of the Indoor Football League began play at Lee's Family Forum (then known as Dollar Loan Center).

After the toilets backed up during a 2015 game, PCL president Branch Barrett Rickey wrote a letter to the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority to warn that the upgrades needed to keep Cashman at something approaching Triple-A standards would require spending "tens of millions of dollars."

Dissatisfaction with the facilities, along with the lack of a plan to improve the situation, was cited as a major reason that the Los Angeles Dodgers did not renew their working agreement with the then-Las Vegas 51s after it expired in 2008.

In 1999, UNLV officials refused to discuss a new agreement with the owners of the Las Vegas Thunder of the International Hockey League to play at the Thomas & Mack Center.

[51] AF2 President Jerry Kurz stated that the league had serious plans to put a team in Las Vegas to play at the Orleans Arena.

Most recently, the Big West Conference moved its men's and women's tournaments to the area starting in 2020–21, first at Michelob Ultra Arena in 2021 and then Dollar Loan Center/Lee's Family Forum from 2022.

Along with significant rises in popularity in mixed martial arts (MMA), a number of fight leagues such as the premier MMA organization in the world the UFC call Las Vegas home with the headquarters of world operations due to the number of suitable host venues with an annual international fight week held near July 4.

The technical and safety inspection was held on famed Fremont Street and became one of the major must-attend sporting events in Las Vegas history.

In July 2006, the Las Vegas City Council approved a 2.44-mile, 14-turn, counterclockwise street circuit in the downtown area for a Champ Car event slated for April 6–8, 2007.