The Morning Journal (Lorain, OH)
Las Vegas Lights FC goes its own way in Sin City
Eric Wynalda and Las Vegas Lights FC are running a job search unlike any other on the Strip at the moment.
Not that you would expect anything less from the United Soccer League team that partnered with a marijuana dispensary, dropped $5,000 from a helicopter as part of a halftime promotion and embraced gambling like no American sports franchise ever before.
Las Vegas has dubbed its upcoming open tryout as its search for the “most interesting player In the world.”
The 49-year-old Wynalda, who was hired as the Lights’ coach and technical director in October, is bringing in some of his old friends from his highprofile playing career and promising a chance to make the Division II program regardless of experience level.
“There’s a lot of talented people in Vegas,” said Wynalda, a longtime star with the U.S. men’s national team. “If you really think about some of the people that came there, maybe they were going to be a part of Cirque du Soleil, who knows, and they end up dealing cards or something.
“I just think it would be really fun and a really cool story if we found a literal diamond in the rough here, so we’re going to roll with this.”
Tryouts are nothing new in the United Soccer League, but Las Vegas is doing its best to put its own glossy spin on the Dec. 15 workout.
While welcoming everyone from acrobats to zookeepers, Wynalda is eschewing the more traditional grueling tryout in favor of a quick hook for anyone who doesn’t have what it takes. Team owner Brett Lashbrook also says he is ready to put a woman on the roster if she is the best player at Cashman Field that day.
“Talent is everywhere, and we’re looking everywhere for it,” Lashbrook said.
It’s a Vegas-style casting call right in line with Lashbrook’s philosophy for the franchise.
Fighting for attention in an increasingly crowded market — the NHL broke into Sin City last year with the Vegas Golden Knights, and the NFL is coming soon with the Raiders — the Lights have been one of the most daring teams in sports since its debut in February.
They used a pair of Llamas, named Dotty and Dolly, as on-field mascots. They handed out $100 casino chips to players as a reward. They put a smiley emoji on the inside of their jerseys for use in goal celebrations.
“I think teams need to reflect their communities and when you think of Las Vegas you think fun, sexy, glitzy, glam, unabashedly kitschy,” Lashbrook said in a phone interview.
The Lights’ most lasting impression might be their incorporation of gambling into their game-day experience. The team provides real-time updates on the over-under and other betting options while encouraging its fans to wager on the game.
It’s a common practice in other parts of the world that could become more prevalent in the United States after a Supreme Court ruling in May cleared the way for all 50 states to offer legal sports betting.
“This is the future,” Lashbrook said. “The other big four sports leagues are all tip-toeing around it and it’s just silly.”
Lashbrook hopes to bring Las Vegas’ flamboyant style to Major League Soccer one day, but it looks as if that might take a while. Cincinnati, Miami, and Nashville are set to join MLS in the next few years, and Austin, Texas, also has been promised a franchise.
Major League Soccer plans to expand to 28 teams, but St. Louis, Detroit and Sacramento, California, are believed to be the top contenders for that final slot in this wave of growth for the league.