It has been well known that Bill Foley, the majority owner of the NHL's Las Vegas expansion franchise, really wants to have Knights in the team's name somehow. His connection with West Point is a big reason for that, but Knights makes a lot of sense for a team in Las Vegas, too.
While Foley's desired "Black Knights" is a definite no go because of West Point's trademark and even just "Knights" has trademark concerns, the Las Vegas Review-Journal reported that the team may have found a solution. And it's... well, it's interesting.
What do you think about the Las Vegas Desert Knights?
According to the Review-Journal, domains for lasvegasdesertknights.com, vegasdesertknights.com and desertknightshockey.com were all registered to Moniker Privacy Services, the same company that owns the domain to NHL.com.
This comes on the heels of Foley revealing to Las Vegas hockey blog SinBin.vegas that one of the previously leaked name candidates, "Night Hawks," had been viewed as more of a backup option than a primary candidate. The team also reportedly registered domains tied to potential team names of Desert Hawks and Red Hawks last month.
The whole naming situation has been pretty rough for the NHL's newest franchise. The team has been working on gaining NHL membership for well over now and somehow this whole thing wasn't sorted out already. They've hit a lot of trademark road blocks, which is no small thing, but to have gone this long without an identity is surprising and probably not the best look, especially as this remains unresolved.
Though they won't play until 2017-18, the organization could already start making money by selling team merchandise and giving the locals something else to get excited about and identify with. While the team has made significant hockey operations hirings since being granted the franchise, little has been accomplished for its most significant marketing decision.
Most of the names that have come to light in the public have not been terribly well received. A quick and highly unscientific scan of Twitter shows "Desert Knights" is no different in terms of public support.
The longer this drags out, the worse it looks, but in fairness, it is one of those decisions the team really has to get right. Taking their time to find out what works and what doesn't isn't a bad thing if they can find the right fit the franchise, the market and the league.
