Former names | Henderson Event Center (planning/construction) The Dollar Loan Center (2020-2024) |
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Address | 200 S Green Valley Pkwy |
Location | Henderson, Nevada |
Coordinates | 36°01′08″N115°04′54″W / 36.018977°N 115.081632°W |
Owner | City of Henderson |
Operator | Black Knight Sports and Entertainment |
Capacity | 5,567 [1] |
Construction | |
Opened | March 8, 2022 [2] |
Construction cost | $70 million |
Architect |
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Structural engineer | Walter P Moore |
General contractor | Whiting-Turner |
Tenants | |
Henderson Silver Knights (AHL) (2022–present) Vegas Knight Hawks (IFL) (2022–present) NBA G League Ignite (NBAGL) (2022–2024) Vegas Thrill (PVF) (2024–present) Las Vegas Desert Dogs (NLL) (2024–present) | |
Website | |
Venue Website |
Lee's Family Forum is a multi-purpose indoor arena in Henderson, Nevada. Built on the site of the former Henderson Pavilion, it is the home of the Henderson Silver Knights of the American Hockey League, the Vegas Knight Hawks of the Indoor Football League, the Vegas Thrill of the Pro Volleyball Federation, the home of the Las Vegas Desert Dogs [3] of the National Lacrosse League, and the former home of the NBA G League Ignite of the NBA G League. [4] The City of Henderson is the building owner with the National Hockey League's Vegas Golden Knights as its operator. [5]
The Forum seats 5,567 for hockey and football. [6] Initially called the Henderson Event Center, on March 30, 2021, the Golden Knights and Silver Knights announced a naming rights partnership with Dollar Loan Center, a Las Vegas-based short-term loan company, for the arena to be called The Dollar Loan Center. [7] The name of the arena was disambiguated with the article "The" to differentiate it from the company. [8]
The arena was constructed primarily to serve as the home of the Henderson Silver Knights of the American Hockey League. The Vegas Golden Knights purchased the AHL franchise known as the San Antonio Rampage on February 6, 2020, from Spurs Sports & Entertainment. The sale of the team and its relocation to the Las Vegas suburb of Henderson was approved by the AHL Board of Governors on February 28, 2020. [9] The first Silver Knights game played at the arena was on April 2, 2022. [10]
In May 2021, the Indoor Football League (IFL) announced that Bill Foley, owner of the National Hockey League's Vegas Golden Knights, had purchased an IFL franchise to compete at The Dollar Loan Center. [11] On August 23, 2021, Foley announced that the team would be known as the Vegas Knight Hawks and that Mike Davis would be the franchise's general manager and head coach. [12] On May 10, 2022, it was announced that the IFL National Championship game would be played at The Dollar Loan Center for the 2022–2024 seasons. [13]
The Big West Conference announced on June 24, 2021, that the men's and women's basketball championships would be held at The Dollar Loan Center starting in 2022 – the tournament was the first ticketed event held at the arena. [14]
Since 2022, the Ball Dawgs Classic (known as the Vegas 4 in its inaugural year), has been played at what was then known as The Dollar Loan Center. [15]
On April 1, 2024, DLC let the naming rights expire, which was purchased by the owners of Lee's Discount Liquor to be named as Lee's Family Forum, in honor of the founders, Hae Un Lee and Kenny Lee. [16]
The Chicago Wolves are a professional ice hockey team in the American Hockey League (AHL) and are affiliated with the Carolina Hurricanes of the National Hockey League (NHL). The Wolves play home games at the Allstate Arena in the Chicago suburb of Rosemont, Illinois, and are owned by Chicago business owners Don Levin and Buddy Meyers.
The San Antonio Rampage was a professional ice hockey team in the American Hockey League based in San Antonio, Texas. The Rampage was primarily owned by Spurs Sports & Entertainment throughout the team's existence. In 2020, the franchise was sold to the Vegas Golden Knights and relocated as the Henderson Silver Knights.
Orleans Arena is a 9,500-seat multi-purpose arena in Paradise, Nevada, in the Las Vegas Valley. It is located at the Orleans Hotel and Casino and is operated by Coast Casinos, a subsidiary of Boyd Gaming Corporation.
The Las Vegas metropolitan area is home to many sports, most of which take place in the unincorporated communities around Las Vegas rather than in the city itself. Currently, the Las Vegas Valley has three major league professional teams: the Vegas Golden Knights of the National Hockey League (NHL), which began play in 2017 as the region's first major pro team, the Las Vegas Raiders of the National Football League (NFL) which began play in 2020 after relocating from Oakland, California, and the Las Vegas Aces of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). The Athletics of Major League Baseball (MLB) plan to move to Las Vegas to play at a new ballpark which is estimated to be complete by 2028 after relocating from Oakland and West Sacramento, California. When this relocation happens, Las Vegas will have progressed from being the largest market in the U.S. with no teams in the men's major professional leagues to being one of the smallest markets with at least three such teams within less than a decade. In addition, the National Basketball Association has publicly confirmed Las Vegas is being considered for an expansion franchise, which would potentially make Las Vegas by far the fastest market to progress from no teams in the Big Four leagues to having teams in all four leagues.
The Indoor Football League (IFL) is a professional indoor American football league created in 2008 out of the merger between the Intense Football League and United Indoor Football. It has one of the largest number of currently active teams among indoor football leagues. As of the 2024 season, the league consists of 16 teams in two conferences with each team playing 16 games over 19 weeks.
Spurs Sports & Entertainment L.L.C. (SS&E) is an American sports and entertainment organization based in San Antonio, Texas. The company owns and operates several sporting franchises including the National Basketball Association (NBA) San Antonio Spurs, NBA G League Austin Spurs, and the USL Championship club San Antonio FC. SS&E also operates the Bexar County-owned multi-purpose facility, the Frost Bank Center.
The Henderson Pavilion was an amphitheater in Henderson, Nevada used primarily for music performances.
The Vegas Golden Knights are a professional ice hockey team based in the Las Vegas metropolitan area. The Golden Knights compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division in the Western Conference. Founded in 2017 as an expansion team, the team is the first major sports franchise to represent Las Vegas. The franchise is primarily owned by Black Knight Sports and Entertainment, a consortium led by Bill Foley, with Adrienne Maloof holding a minority stake. Their home games are played at T-Mobile Arena on the Las Vegas Strip in Paradise, Nevada.
The IFL National Championship is the Indoor Football League's championship game. It has been played every year since 2009, except for 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The current champions are the Arizona Rattlers, who won their seventh indoor National Championship, defeating the Massachusetts Pirates.
William P. Foley II is an American businessman and former attorney, specializing in financial services. He is chairman of Fidelity National Financial, Cannae Holdings and Black Knight Financial Services, and vice chairman of Fidelity National Information Services Inc. (FIS). Foley is the lead investor, chairman, and CEO of Black Knight Sports & Entertainment, a consortium that owns the Vegas Golden Knights. He is managing general partner of Black Knight Football and Entertainment, which owns Premier League club AFC Bournemouth, A-League club Auckland FC, and a stake in French Ligue 2 club Lorient, and Scottish Premiership club Hibernian. As of 2023, he had an estimated net worth of US$1.6 billion according to Forbes.
The Bay Area Panthers are a professional indoor football team based in San Jose, California, that competes in the Indoor Football League (IFL). The team was to begin play in 2020 at Oakland Arena as the Oakland Panthers. Due the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Panthers' inaugural season was canceled, and the team withdrew from the following 2021 season. Prior to the 2022 season, the Panthers announced they would instead play their home games at SAP Center in San Jose and were renamed after the Bay Area.
The Henderson Silver Knights are a professional ice hockey team based in Henderson, Nevada, that began play in the 2020–21 American Hockey League (AHL) season. The team plays its home games at Lee's Family Forum in Henderson, Nevada. The team is an owned-and-operated affiliate of the Vegas Golden Knights.
The 2020–21 AHL season was the 85th season of the American Hockey League. Due to the ongoing restrictions in the COVID-19 pandemic, the start of the regular season was pushed back to February 5, 2021, and the league's playoff tournament championship Calder Cup was not awarded for the second consecutive season. The AHL's regular-season Macgregor Kilpatrick Trophy would become the league's primary trophy, which was the Hershey Bears's eighth regular-season championship. This was the first season under Scott Howson as the league's president after David Andrews announced his retirement after 26 years in the position.
The Savannah Ghost Pirates are a professional minor league ice hockey team in the ECHL based in Savannah, Georgia. The team began play in the 2022–23 ECHL season with home games at Enmarket Arena.
Logan Thompson is a Canadian professional ice hockey goaltender for the Washington Capitals of the National Hockey League (NHL). After playing junior hockey in the Western Hockey League (WHL) with the Brandon Wheat Kings, Thompson went undrafted, and spent time in U Sports, the ECHL, and the American Hockey League (AHL) before signing his first NHL contract with the Vegas Golden Knights in 2020. After two years spent primarily with the AHL Henderson Silver Knights, Thompson received significant playing time in the 2021–22 season due to injuries to other Vegas goaltenders, becoming the first former U Sports goaltender to start an NHL game in over 30 years. After taking over as Vegas' starting goaltender for the 2022–23 season, Thompson was named an NHL All-Star in 2023 and won the Stanley Cup with Vegas the same year, despite suffering injuries late in the season. Internationally, Thompson has represented Canada on one occasion, winning a silver medal at the 2022 edition of the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) World Championship.
The Vegas Knight Hawks are a professional indoor football team based in the Las Vegas metropolitan area that competes in the Indoor Football League (IFL). The Knight Hawks began play in 2022 at Lee's Family Forum. The franchise is owned by Bill Foley, the owner of the Vegas Golden Knights.
The 2022 Indoor Football League season was the fourteenth season of the Indoor Football League (IFL). The league played the season with 14 teams, up from 11 teams the previous season. The Bay Area Panthers, Quad City Steamwheelers, and San Diego Strike Force, returned from dormancy after electing not to play during the 2021 season due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Vegas Knight Hawks joined the league as an expansion team. The Cedar Rapids River Kings did not return and the announced 2022 expansion Columbus Wild Dogs never returned. The Spokane Shock were removed from the league in February 2022 after the team lost its lease for their home arena.
Brayden Pachal is a Canadian professional ice hockey defenceman for the Calgary Flames of the National Hockey League (NHL). He previously played for the Vegas Golden Knights, with whom he won the Stanley Cup in 2023.
Jiří Patera is a Czech professional ice hockey goaltender for the Abbotsford Canucks of the American Hockey League (AHL), while under contract to the Vancouver Canucks of the National Hockey League (NHL). He previously played junior in the United States Hockey League (USHL) with the Cedar Rapids RoughRiders and in the Western Hockey League (WHL) with the Brandon Wheat Kings, and was drafted in the sixth round of the 2017 NHL entry draft by the Vegas Golden Knights.
Carl Lindbom is a Swedish professional ice hockey goaltender currently playing for the Henderson Silver Knights of the American Hockey League (AHL) as a prospect to the Vegas Golden Knights of the National Hockey League (NHL). Lindbom was selected in the seventh round, 222nd overall, by the Golden Knights in the 2021 NHL Entry Draft.
Events and tenants | ||
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Preceded by | Home of the Henderson Silver Knights 2022–present | Succeeded by Current Arena |
Preceded by Expansion Team | Home of the Vegas Knight Hawks 2022–present | Succeeded by Current Arena |
Preceded by Ultimate Fieldhouse (in Walnut Creek, California) | Home of the NBA G League Ignite 2022–2024 | Succeeded by Franchise Disestablished |
Preceded by | Home of the Las Vegas Desert Dogs 2024-present | Succeeded by Current Arena |