Vegas Golden Knights Team with D Las Vegas, While “Vegas Vickie” Rides into Sunset

Posted on: June 15, 2017, 05:00h. 

Last updated on: June 16, 2017, 12:44h.

Casino.org Staff Writer Read More
Expertise: Commercial Gaming.

Las Vegas’ new hockey team and the city’s first ever major league sports team (beating the Raiders by a whisker) announced its official downtown casino partner this week.

Vegas Golden Knights have partnered with the D Las Vegas
The Vegas Golden Knights have partnered with the D Las Vegas in an attempt to promote the new team and excite the fan base in Las Vegas. (Image: AP)

The Vegas Golden Knights have partnered with the D Las Vegas in an exclusive six-year deal that will see the casino hold an annual “fan fest” in the off-season, as well as special parties during every Golden Knights game.

There will also be regular player appearances at the D, while team merchandise and game tickets will be for sale inside the casino.

The deal was announced at a press conference attended by Vegas Golden Knights President Kerry Bubolz and D Las Vegas CEO Derek Stevens. Stevens said he would also be making a $100,000 donation to kick-start the new Golden Knights Foundation

Detroit Flavor

“Coming from Detroit, which is a true hockey town, I’ve had the opportunity to see how Mike Ilitch, with Little Caesars Arena, and Pete Karmanos, with Compuware AAA Hockey, have impacted the community and youth sports,” said Stevens. “I am hoping to bring the same spirit to Las Vegas.”

Also present was Mayor Carolyn Goodman, who, along with her husband, the former mayor Oscar Goodman, has campaigned for years to bring a major league team to Las Vegas, an NHL team in particular.

“There have been many investors in my time in Las Vegas, but there has never been anyone quite like Derek Stevens,” she gushed. “Every time he commits to doing something, he does it quickly and wholeheartedly. His six-year agreement with the Vegas Golden Knights is such an honor for this community, and we’re so thrilled to have the team in our city.”

New Casino Coming

Stevens has also been busy this week quickly and wholeheartedly removing the iconic “Vegas Vickie” sign from Fremont Street, as well as the signage of the historic Las Vegas Club, as he prepares to demolish the whole block to make way for a new, as yet unnamed casino project.

“One thing we’re going to try to do is provide a hotel resort that has some of the more modern amenities that we don’t have downtown,” Stevens told the Las Vegas Review-Journal this week. “We’ll still respect the fact that this is downtown Las Vegas and Fremont Street with an awful lot of people walking by every day, that’s for sure.”

Neon cowgirl Vegas Vickie has been a companion to the chain-smoking Vegas Vic since her installation in 1980. In 1993 they were “married” in a ceremony during the construction of the Fremont Street Experience.