#6 Las Vegas Aces forced to eat at Walmart after multiple travel delays
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It’s no secret that male and female athletes are sometimes not treated equally, and nowhere is that more evident than the WNBA. While the league has worked hard to champion opportunities for women and continues to fight for better treatment, but it doesn’t always work out that way. A perfect example of this was the Las Vegas Aces‘ cross-country trip to face the Connecticut Sun, which included a flight delay, the misplacement of their luggage, and arriving into town late.
Unfortunately for the Aces, this late arrival meant that most restaurants were closed, forcing them to stop at a Walmart to get something to eat. Aces coach Bill Laimbeer was even seen in a social media video claiming he needed to find the booze after the long trip. Can you imagine the same story happening in the NBA?
#5 Las Vegas welcomes new indoor Football team
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Are you ready for some Football?
This week, the Foley Entertainment group of Las Vegas Golden Knights fame announced the formation of the Las Vegas Golden Hawks, the indoor football league’s 18th active team. Las Vegas is really becoming a thriving sports market with professional NFL, NHL, and WNBA teams. The city is also still the favorite to become the new home of the Oakland Athletic.
“Our organization is thrilled to be bringing another pro sports franchise to Southern Nevada,” said Vegas Golden Knights President Kerry Bubolz about the new IFL team. “Just like the Vegas Golden Knights and the Henderson Silver Knights, the Vegas Knight Hawks will be a team built to support the community they play in. Our games at the all-new Dollar Loan Center will be fun, affordable, and have the best-in-class in-game experience.”
The head coach will be former Toronto Argonauts defensive lineman coach Mike Davis and tickets for the season will start at about $20.
#4 Athletics to return to Las Vegas to discuss ballpark
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The Athletics continue their search for a state-of-the-art ballpark, and while it was previously reported that Oakland city officials were working on a way to get the deal done, that apparently wasn’t good enough. For those who don’t remember, Oakland officials came out with a revised proposal that the team was unhappy with and are again exploring other options as a result. One of those options is Las Vegas.
“The Oakland Coliseum site is not a viable option for the future vision of baseball,” the MLB said in a statement on the matter. “We have instructed the Athletics to begin to explore other markets while they continue to pursue a waterfront ballpark in Oakland. The Athletics need a new ballpark to remain competitive, so it is now in our best interest to also consider other markets.”
Athletics owner John Fisher and President Dave Kaval visited Las Vegas last week to discuss plans for their desired 1 billion-dollar ballpark, but not much is known about the meeting.
#3 WWE Summerslam reportedly a big success
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WWE Summerslam emanated from Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas last weekend, and boy was it a show for the ages. Not only was that evident by the returns of Becky Lynch and Brock Lesnar, but also by just how much the landscape of the company seemed to change during the event. Of course, the night’s biggest draw was John Cena versus Roman Reigns part two, but that was far from the only match worth watching throughout the three-hour event.
According to WWE.com, “The sellout crowd of 51,326 broke SummerSlam records for indoor attendance and gate receipts. .. More people watched Saturday s event live across Peacock and WWE Network than any other SummerSlam in the company s history. The seven-figure global audience marked a 55% increase over 2020 and a 29% increase over 2019.”
#2 Raiders suffer more injury issues as regular season looms
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The Las Vegas Raiders are looking to turn things around in 2021 but hit a major speedbump last week when two key players were injured during practice. The trouble started with Nickolas Morrow, who injured his foot during a scrimmage last week. No timetable has officially been given on his return, but the belief is that his absence will last well into the regular season. As for backup linebacker Javin White, he fell victim to a knee injury during practice that could keep him out for the foreseeable future as well.
Morrow’s return is even more uncertain, meaning others will have to step up in his absence. The biggest problem with these injuries is that it pokes holes in an already unproven defense. Whether the team can overcome that and show growth remains to be seen, but having two linebackers injured two weeks before the start of the season isn’t a good sign.
#1 Kurt Busch to 23XI Racing
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Las Vegas native Kurt Busch has teased an announcement about his racing future for the last couple of weeks, but a lot of people kind of already knew where he was going to wind up. In fact, between his solid resume, and 23XI Racing needing a veteran to help them look towards the future, this is the perfect opportunity for both driver and team. Kurt Busch will now officially be Bubba Wallace’s teammate in 2022, which will give the youngster a great teacher for the coming years.
When we started this team, our vision was to grow to a multi-car organization. To be able to expand in just our second year is a huge step for us, said 23XI Racing co-owner Denny Hamlin. Kurt brings a wealth of knowledge and a championship mindset to our team and will be able to help us grow stronger and more competitive each and every week.
Busch, who won a Cup Series championship in 2003, will drive the #45 Monster Energy Toyota this season. As for the #45, that was previously used by the Petty family but was relinquished to allow Busch to run that number in the upcoming season.
I cannot begin to express my gratitude for this opportunity, Busch said. Racing to win is what I live for. Helping to continue developing a new team alongside Michael Jordan, Denny Hamlin, and Toyota is exactly what I want to be part of. Winning is important to 23XI, it s important to Monster Energy, and it s important to me. That is our goal.
