SALT LAKE CITY — NHL commissioner Gary Bettman believes that the Vegas Golden Knights are still the standard bearer when it comes to the sports boom in Las Vegas.
Bettman said it was satisfying that the Knights have found as much success as they approach their 10th season in the league, and as more professional teams call Southern Nevada home.
“It’s been very gratifying to see a market that some were critical or skeptical about when we announced expansion,” Bettman said prior to Game 3 between the Knights and Utah Mammoth at Delta Center on Friday. “Now, we see that every other sport thinks they invented it, it has been a little gratifying.”
The Knights are in the playoffs for an eighth time in nine seasons, have two trips to the Stanley Cup Finals and one championship to show for it.
“(Knights owner) Bill (Foley) and his people have done everything that you would want to do in Las Vegas for the creation of the first major league team there,” Bettman said. “I think it’s given Las Vegas an identity beyond the Strip. And while there’s other franchises coming, I don’t worry for a second because they’ve got a loyal, firm fan base that started on Day 1.”
Utah was once a hub for Knights fans long before the Arizona Coyotes relocated to Salt Lake City two years ago.
Fans gravitated toward the Knights and Foley’s proclamation that he wanted his team to be the team of the Rockies. Utah was a TV hub for the Knights, as well.
Mammoth owner Ryan Smith knew the love for hockey was there when he bought the team, and knew it would grow into what it’s become — one of the exciting young teams in the league.
“I think the national landscape doesn’t understand the proximity, in so many different ways, of Utah to Las Vegas,” Smith said. “I understand the soul that hockey has brought to Vegas in a really creative way.”
If there was a time for Smith to capitalize on that, it was Friday, the day of the Mammoth’s first ever home playoff game.
We’ve exchanged all of the Mammoth jerseys available for the VGK exchange.
See you tonight for Game 3! pic.twitter.com/boWI5mgNpr
— x – Utah Mammoth (@utahmammoth) April 24, 2026
Smith organized a jersey swap outside of Delta Center, where fans could exchange any Knights jersey for a brand new Utah sweater.
A line stretched the entire block. They ran out of jerseys within an hour.
“As much as everyone thinks I’m just trolling them — I mean, maybe 50 percent,” Smith said, laughing, “it’s way more of a respect thing for how they’ve grown. Nothing but respect.”
Contact Danny Webster at dwebster@reviewjournal.com. Follow @DannyWebster21 on X.
