from Adam Candee of the Las Vegas Sun,

Far from a hockey hotbed before the Predators arrived in 1998, Nashville endured typically dark expansion years and a change in ownership before embracing local identity to become the NHL’s poster child for growing its game outside America’s Snowbelt regions. The Vegas Golden Knights, also citizens of an unlikely hockey city powered by celebrity wattage and entertainment overload, strive to emulate the Nashville model as they build Nevada’s first major pro sports franchise.

“The Nashville-type euphoria that is happening now that they’re in the finals, there’s no reason that can’t happen here,” said Nehme Abouzeid, the Vegas Golden Knights senior vice president and chief marketing officer.

Building that excitement in Las Vegas with an expansion team likely to struggle in its initial seasons requires the Golden Knights to create buzz within and beyond the game.

“It’s about putting a good entertainment experience on the ice. We’re competing with shows, we’re competing with other attractions — that’s how I’m looking at it. We’re the latest headliner on the Strip,” Abouzeid, a longtime casino executive with Wynn and Sands, said. “We don’t have a 90-year history like the (Boston) Bruins, where you just kind of rely on those core hockey fans. We feel like every night is a tryout for us and we’ve got to sell it out, and we’ve got to work hard to do it.”

Such local interest naturally trails success. The Predators drew 17,160 fans per game in 2016-17, the franchise’s 10th playoff season in the past 13 years. Nashville and 14 other NHL teams averaged a sellout crowd, but the team joined Los Angeles and Tampa Bay as the only teams outside traditional hockey markets in Canada, the Northeast and Great Lakes to do so.

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