Henderson Aces Business Needs

August 24, 2021

The Las Vegas Aces was a team that seemingly had it all, at the top of their game and the top of the league, with some of the world’s best players, including A’ja Wilson, the 2020 WNBA MVP.

Yet what the Aces didn’t have was a real home. Since relocating to Las Vegas in 2018, the team has relied on an ad hoc patchwork arrangement of practice spaces and locker rooms rented at University of Nevada-Las Vegas, offices at MGM’s Vegas complex and even an office in an airport hangar.

That changed in the spring of 2021 after Las Vegas Raiders owner and Aces superfan Mark Davis bought the team and began searching for a place to build a home befitting champions. Davis hoped to find something near the Raiders’ new $75 million headquarters and performance center in West Henderson, and as he explained to Fox 5 KVVU-TV, just next to the Raiders headquarters, the perfect facility “popped up,” so that construction is now underway.

The Aces join Henderson’s roster of pro sports teams that includes not only the Raiders, but also the American Hockey League’s Henderson Silver Knights as well as a new Indoor Football League expansion team soon to make its home in the city.

Making space. Making haste.

Speed and power are critical in pro sports, whether it’s A’ja Wilson driving toward the basket or Silver Knights left wings Dylan Sikura and Jonas Rondbjerg slicing up the ice to lead the team to the 2020 Pacific Division Finals in the Knights’ inaugural season. Speed and power in answering the need for the right space has also been key to Henderson’s rapid rise as one of the nation’s fastest growing pro sports hubs.

For example, the city quickly rolled out ample acreage in a strategic West Henderson location for the Raiders facility, while providing plenty of pro-business support throughout construction. That level of service has transformed Raiders management into vocal fans of the city. “This is a get-to-yes environment. Get-to-yes state, get-to-yes county, get-to-yes city,” Former Raiders President Marc Badain says.

Kerry Bubolz, President of Black Knight Sports Entertainment, which owns the Silver Knights, is equally impressed by Henderson’s partnership. “This is absolutely the best city I have ever worked with,” he notes. “What we found is a partner willing to go out of their way to find us great solutions.”

One of those solutions is the Lifeguard Arena, which the city created by skillfully leveraging public/private funding to build a superb practice facility for the Knights that also serves as a community center offering city residents enhanced recreational opportunities. Another far-sighted endeavor now under construction, the 6,000-seat Dollar Loan Center, promises to be the ideal venue for Silver Knights games. The Center will also be home to the Southern Nevada Sports Hall of Fame and will add value to the city’s facilities for theatre, music and other events. Equally significant, the Dollar Loan Center has also helped catalyze yet another sports opportunity: In May Golden and Silver Knights Chairman and CEO Bill Foley and Dollar Loan Center CEO Chuck Brennan purchased an Indoor Football League expansion franchise; team play is scheduled to begin in 2022 at the Center.

Scoring highest in quality of life.

Of course, speed and power aren’t the only attributes that set pro players like Wilson, Sikura and Rondbjerg apart. A desire to be the best drives the world’s top competitors, and scoring the highest on quality of place measurements again and again is one of the attributes that sets Henderson apart. Over the past few years, the city has topped the “best of” lists of publications like Money Magazine, Wallet Hub and U.S. News & World Report. According to the recent 2021 Niche.com ranking, 10 of the top 22 best places to live in Nevada are neighborhoods in the city of Henderson, including the neighborhood ranked #1 in the state.

“We want to be the best in everything and the best for everyone—new industry, city residents and the Southern Nevada region,” says Derek Armstrong, Henderson’s Director of Economic Development and Tourism. “Whether your business is sports related or whether your business enterprise wants to compete at the highest levels, Henderson is the right home for you.”

In fact, the same playmaking that is bringing pro sports to Henderson—like facilitating the right spaces quickly and with maximum ease in relocation—is one reason Henderson has attracted business investment from leading companies like Google, Amazon, Kroger and Haas Automation.

And with more than 20,000 square feet of office and industrial space available, and with a true competitive spirit, Henderson looks to keep on scoring, Armstrong says.

“If your company wants to compete, you want to look closely at Henderson.”


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