Booster Juice founder grabs share in Vegas team
Meet Edmonton’s other NHL team owner.
When Dale Wishewan, the founder of Booster Juice, became one of 19 minority owners of the NHL expansion Vegas Golden Knights, he joined an elite group of Canadians who own a share in the nation’s favourite pastime.
But for a man who grew up in Alberta’s capital during the Edmonton Oilers dynasty years of Wayne Gretzky and Mark Messier, his allegiances to the grand old days has left him conflicted.
With his upstart team matching up against the Daryl Katz-owned Oilers at Rogers Place on Tuesday night for the first time, Wishewan is playing it safe when asked who he will be supporting.
“My answer for now is that I’m cheering for both teams,” he said with a cheeky grin.
The opportunity to join the Golden Knights came two years ago when a friend broached the subject.
Former attorney and American billionaire businessman Bill Foley is majority owner of the team alongside the prominent Las Vegas Maloof family, who previously owned the Sacramento Kings and Houston Rockets NBA franchises.
According to U.S. media reports, other members of the minority ownership group include New England Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski, model and actor Carol Alt and former NHL players Mark Recchi and Alexei Yashin.
Wishewan, who hails from Waskatenau, a small Alberta town of around 260 people about an hour north of Edmonton, said the decision to join the coalition was a no-brainer.
He declined to share how much of the team he owns or how much he paid for his share.
But further sweetening the already enticing deal was the option to also own a slice of Las Vegas’s new arena, the 18,000-seat privately built T-Mobile Arena.
Concerns about whether Las Vegas locals would embrace its first professional sports teams have been allayed with a blistering start to the season, ensuring sellouts at every home game so far.
“It’s a novelty right now, but there is a buzz around the team,” Wishewan said last week.
“We thought the fan base would be more transient than it is, but people have taken to the team as if it had existed for 20 years.”
A packed rink has also translated into record merchandise sales, topping the league last month.
“Most sports franchises are successful or they gain in value and this was such a unique opportunity ... I can’t imagine it not working in Vegas,” he said. “Not too many people get the opportunity to be part of an ownership group with a professional sports team.
“When I think of having ownership of something in Vegas, it’s just wild.”
Only half of the minority owners took up the option to buy into both the arena and the team, he said.
Wishewan said the arena deal also helped provide a safeguard for his overall investment. “I saw it initially as an investment, but I’ve now taken so much more of a keen interest in the team,” he said. “The team part is so much fun.” Outside of the annual 41 home games, the $375-million arena is already developing a reputation as a sports and entertainment hub on The Strip.
In its short lifespan, the arena has already hosted mega-events such as the fight between boxing legend Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Ultimate Fighting Championship’s (UFC) bad boy Conor McGregor.
And the UFC just signed an exclusive seven-year pact that promises at least four events per year at the arena.
As well as hosting massive events like the Latin Grammys and Billboard Music Awards, music superstars Kendrick Lamar and Ed Sheeran have already performed at the venue and Lady Gaga and Katy Perry are planning gigs in the coming months.
In March, the PAC-12 men’s college basketball tournament will take centre court.
Although he’s a first-time owner, Wishewan is no stranger to the NHL.
The juice king, who opened his first Booster Juice in 1999 and whose company now boasts 360 franchises, has inked several sponsorship deals over the past six seasons.
His company now has branded rink boards in Anaheim, New Jersey, Florida, Ottawa, Edmonton and, of course, now Las Vegas, too.