Columnist Ron Kantowski: Shocker: Wranglers may succeed

Thursday, Sept. 26, 2002 | 9:33 a.m.

Ron Kantowski's insider notes column appears Tuesday and his Page One column appears Thursday. He can be reached at ron@lasvegassun.com or (702) 259-4088.

As you may have read or heard or completely ignored by now, minor league hockey will be returning to Las Vegas in 2003.

Until then, the Las Vegas Wranglers will consist of little more than a logo and wishful thinking. But at least they've got a sheet of ice on which to paint their logo, as Coast Resorts Inc., has made the Wranglers the primary tenant of the 9,000-seat Orleans Arena going up adjacent to the hotel-casino.

I suppose that Gordon Lightfoot's vocal chords can only take so much abuse, so the Orleans couldn't depend solely on him (as it seemingly does now) to provide entertainment to its beau coup slot club members. But in that Lightfoot is Canadian, maybe the Wranglers can sell him a season ticket.

They'll need all the patronage they can get. History suggests -- actually, it cries out -- that the Wranglers' life expectancy should fall somewhere between those of the tsetse fly and the drive train warranty on a Chevy Malibu.

Minor league sports in our major league entertainment city just don't fly. But say this for Wranglers management: It has done enough homework that at least the team will have a chance to get off the ground.

The Wranglers are owned by Charles Davenport IV, who has a stuffy name but comes across as a nice guy over the telephone. Better yet, he also may know a thing or two about running a hockey franchise.

When Chandar Sports, the name under which the Davenport family operates its sports interests, took over the West Coast Hockey League's Fresno franchise, the Falcons were averaging fewer than 2,000 spectators. Now, Fresno is one of the WCHL's success stories, with an average gate of about 6,000.

Of course, that's Fresno, this is Las Vegas. I'll bet if the MGM Grand opened that crazy theme park in an irrigation field on the outskirts of Fresno, the cotton candy machines might still be whirring.

The Wranglers won't be able to cash in on the novelty factor, either, as we've enjoyed/survived minor league hockey before. The defunct Las Vegas Thunder of the equally defunct International Hockey League lasted six years before going belly-up. But the Thunder was unique in that it was able to sustain a fan base of around 4,000-4,500, give or take a few season ticket holders disguised as empty seats.

That wasn't nearly enough to offset the Thunder's operating costs, which included outrageous player salaries and a lease at the Thomas & Mack Center that would make a slum lord blush.

Davenport told me most IHL teams had operating costs of $6 million or more. He said his Fresno team gets by on $2.5 million. Those costs may increase when the East Coast Hockey League absorbs the WCHL in 2003-04, but not enough to alter the business model.

But the biggest reason the Wranglers could surprise skeptics and make a go of it here is their arrangement with the Orleans. Whereas the T&M mostly considered the Thunder a nuisance, the Orleans sees the Wranglers as a cash cow -- or at least a cash calf.

Even if the Wranglers only draw a couple of thousand fans every night, you better believe they will have to walk through the casino to get to their seats.

"This goes beyond the landlord-tenant relationship," Davenport said. "It's going to be a partnership. We're both pulling on the same rope."

Now if they can only keep from strangling each other with it, local hockey fans might have something to cheer about.