When the Vegas Golden Knights opened their inaugural season in 2017, fans found comfort in community attending “watch parties” when the team hit the road. Now, as the Las Vegas Aces begin their second season here in Sin City, fan support is at its peak as road game watch parties have started popping up in Southern Nevada.
While there are “official” post-home game pizza joints like Slice of Vegas inside Mandalay Bay — where the Aces play their home games — Friday night’s road game vs the Phoenix Mercury features what looks to be the biggest Aces Watch Party in city history at MacKenzie River Pizza, Grill & Pub, located inside the VGK’s practice facility at City National Arena.
The Watch Party, which begins prior to the game’s tip-off at 7 p.m., is expected to feature plenty of enthusiastic fans coming together to show their support for Las Vegas’ second-ever “major league” pro sports team in history. All ages are welcome .
After acquiring MVP runner-up Liz Cambage, the Aces are the odds-on favorite to win the league and bring Las Vegas its first major sports title since the 1990 UNLV Runnin’ Rebels NCAA National Championship, and the first pro sports title in city history.
As one can guess, enthusiasm for the Aces is reaching a fever pitch.
“We have such an amazing professional WNBA team here in Vegas that is super exciting to watch,” event organizer Phil Cory said. “Along with that, we have a wonderful fan base that is just fantastic. We only have 17 home games in the regular season, so my hopes were to try and bring people together with a common passion for our team, to be able to watch the away games together.”
The event features food and beverages available for purchase from MacKenzie River, with typical pricing for dishes ranging from around $6 to $16. Fans are encouraged to order food and drink as patrons and should come early to grab a bite to eat, mingle and get to know fellow Aces fans while enjoying the lead-up to the Aces’ game against Phoenix.
“All in all, I just think that someone needed to do something about our away games, so I thought about it and just said, ‘why not give it a shot, see what happens,'” Cory said. “I contacted the team to let them know what I was doing. They’re cool with it and love it, so long as we keep it organic and fan driven.
“I’m hoping the team will be able to put something together for future games where more people will get involved.”
As far as Friday’s event is concerned, fan support — especially on the Las Vegas Aces – WNBA (Official Facebook Fan Club) — is rising and rising fast.
“I just started calling for a location that could accommodate fans of all ages and televise the game with sound,” said Cory, who himself is a digital marketing expert here in town. “Strangely enough it all worked out fairly quick and easy. Now, we are just trying to get as many folks as possible.”
The response has been fantastic.
In the first 24 hours, roughly 60 Aces fans confirmed they’ll be attending and that number is expected continue to grow as the event nears. Cory encourages fans to arrive early, if possible, to accommodate a potentially larger-than-expected crowd. Fans are encouraged to dress up to show their team spirit.
If the event is successful, Cory has said this can become a regular event.
“Team community is huge,” said Aces fan Derek Stafford, who, upon hearing about the event, is attempting to clear his Friday night schedule so he can bring his daughter Shea. “It’d be great for (Shea) to experience how passionate the fans of the team are. Who knows? Maybe she’s a future Aces star in the making.”
For more information, check out the Facebook event page right here and “like” the Official Facebook Fan Club right here. The MacKenzie River Pizza, Grill & Pub is located inside City National Arena at 1550 South Pavilion Dr., Las Vegas, NV, 89135.
