It’s still the most common question people want to know, when are we getting a name? Jerseys? Colors? The answers are still somewhat of a mystery, but the keeper of the info, Murray Craven has been dropping hints over the past few weeks and it appears they are starting to get close.
Craven, The Creator‘s advisor, is still pretty coy on the subjects and he almost always drops in the caveat of “in the end it’s up to Bill,” but he has been giving out some pretty pertinent stuff recently.
First off, the September to October timeline might be moving up.
Craven hopes to unveil the name in “the next few weeks,” but that’s not entirely up to the organization. They’re working closely with the NHL to thoroughly vet all serious options, including looking into trademark and copyright issues. –Case Keefer, Las Vegas Sun
Remember when Black Knights was the far and away leader? Maybe not so much anymore.
They don’t have to worry because Black Knights won’t be the name. Silver Knights? There’s a good chance. But only Bill Foley knows for sure.
— Steve Carp (@stevecarprj) August 1, 2016
@M_R_1977 It will not be the Black Knights.
— Steve Carp (@stevecarprj) August 2, 2016
How about Rat Pack? C’mon, it’s a good name…
He ruled out anything to do with snakes or the Rat Pack and purchased multiple website domain names to cover the eventual decision. –Chris Kudialis, Las Vegas Sun
That pretty clearly kills off names like Venom, Sidewinders, Vipers, and anything else that has to due with slithery stuff, but seems like Scorpions could still be in the mix.
Before the team was announced, black, gold, and grey were non-negotiable. That was before Adidas’ master negotiators came into play.
The whole color scheme Adidas is talking about is something Bill has considered too. The most welcome thing they had was when Bill said it doesn’t have to be this, this, this, that I’m open to suggestions. So don’t handcuff the creative team at Adidas and the league, let’s listen a fair amount. -Craven on SportsBook Radio w/ Brian Blessing
On the domain names. We’ve been doing a lot of research on this and it’s truly difficult to figure out which the team owns and which they don’t. Back in 2013 Fidelity National Financial bought up just about every domain that had to do with the name Black Jacks. Obviously that name has been ruled out due to gambling connection, but it did give us the clue the organization was buying domains under their own name at one point. Both VegasWantsHockey.com and VegasIsHockey.com are owned by Sebastiani Vineyards, one of The Creator’s wineries.
But here’s where it starts to get complicated. It’s been mentioned a number of times that they own domains connected to Silver Knights. When researching we found, many are owned by Moniker Privacy Services from Fort Lauderdale, FL. Some are owned by Christie Clark, who can be connected to The Creator through the Folded Flag Foundation. And finally, others are owned by Dan Trask, who is a “serial domainer,” and has no connection to Las Vegas. And finally there’s LasVegasSilverKnights.com and LVSilverKnights.com, arguably the best two domain names, are listed for sale on eBay. When you start getting into other names, it gets even more convoluted.
Maybe the oddest thing we discovered in searching domains is who turned up as the owner of LasVegasAces.com. Yeah, that’s right, it’s MGM Resorts.
In conclusion on domain names, it’s become nearly impossible to decipher who is who anymore. On trademarks, aside from the Black Knights submission, which is dead, no other applications appear on file with United States Patent and Trademark Office concerning the possible names that have been discussed.
So what have we learned? Basically nothing, but hey, at least you are up to date now.
DB
Thank you for catching us up Ken.
On a side note, very odd no trade marks have been filed yet?
Maybe Steve Carp is correct, the name may end up being Silver Knights.
Ken Boehlke
Even that name, no trademark has been filed… Yet.
Timothy Pietrzak
I don’t get it.. I google Knights/Sports and get like 20 different teams (some cool logos). I don’t see why they don’t just leave color out of name, and as far as trades, can’t they just add like LVhockey or NHL.. doesn’t any kind of letter or number make a new domain like I have to use ChunkyLover40.
Eh.. gonna google Silverbacks and see how many teams have that.
DB
When it comes to domains I think you want the city and team name (short or long) but as far as a TM goes you may be correct in terms of adding or taking away, use may be the legal issue. For example I cannot call my company MicrosoftyLMNOP Ltd and sell computer hardware. Hamburgers? maybe.
Tom McIntosh
At this point I’m cool with just plain Knights, but I’m assuming that’s already owned. When I think of Silver Knights, I think of Los Angeles goalie Jonathan Quick. Matter of fact, I think of their colors and basically their overall aura. We can be more original than that. I’m already a Kings fan. I don’t want our home team to be a L.A. Kings knockoff.
DLM
I see it similarly, Tom. Big Kings fan, but I live in Vegas and I’d hate to see our new home team start off as a silver/black copy. It’s why I didn’t like the original colors the owner proposed, sounded like the west coast Penguins who I hate.
Black in general is becoming way too overused by all hockey teams it seems. I’d like to see the Vegas team take a different approach and find something unique with the colors.
James
I would have liked to have seen Golden Knights, but I’m assuming that’s already owned.
The United States Army Parachute Team, nicknamed and commonly known as the Golden Knights, is a demonstration and competition parachute team of the United States Army. –Wikipedia
wonderbar
I can get behind Silver Knights but agree, change up the colors.
James
The Syracuse Silver Knights are a professional indoor soccer team based in Syracuse, New York and play in the Major Arena Soccer League. Interestingly enough, they don’t wear silver.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Syracuse_Silver_Knights
James
”Recent murmurs indicate the Silver Knights or Neon Knights could be in the running, after fans universally loathed Foley’s original preference for Black Knights. –Case Keefer, Las Vegas Sun
What do you guys think of Neon Knights? Regarding the colour scheme, here is some food for thought.
2015 NHL All-Star Game: Neon a questionable addition to All-Star …
http://www.espn.com/nhl/story/_/id/12162543/neon-questionable-addition-all-star-uniforms-uni-watch
nick
Neon? Are they on lsd? No way unless an all woman’s team. Go SilverKnights!
alb76
I thought Las Vegas Valor could have been a great name that would have allowed the use of a Knight-based logo/identity. Too bad some Washington, DC-area team just trademarked it (seriously like 2 weeks ago). If Foley had been onto it a bit earlier, he could have possibly filed his trademark prior to theirs.
DB
Neon? NO
James
Bill Foley wants to sell a lot of jerseys. I don’t like neon, but it’s trendy with the target market.
”If you’re selling to kids and teens, neon is where it’s at right now.
”Like any trend, it’s going to have a shelf life. It might stick around for a while, but if we look back with the perspective of, say, 15 years, I think it’s going to look very dated. – Todd Radom, a designer and sports historian who’s done work for a wide variety of teams and leagues
Timothy Pietrzak
No to neon… and neon what?.. neon isn’t a color.. if it just has like some pin stripe that would be fine.. or else you can wear it while directing traffic…
Am I alone about my Silverbacks pitch?.. (this how Ken feels about his Rat Pack).. hit google image.. some cool ideas
RJ
I kind of love Neon Knights. There is a pretty good Black Sabbath song if the same name that would be a sweet for the intro.
DB
From what I read Neon is not trending at all in fact seen as silly on pro sports jerseys. I really think end of day Silver Knights makes sense for all involved State/Foley.
Tom McIntosh
Totally agree with DLM. Black is way overused, and a third black/yellowish team in the NHL screams overkill. I kinda liked the Big Horns idea that was kicked around in the RJ poll. I wonder if Foley is even considering the Wranglers or Thunder. I’ll sell my season tickets if they go with Rat Pack.
Jeff
lasvegasthunder.com is available
DB
Too bad rehashing a failed team name is a crap decision and not unique to man spending $500M+++. Then there is the TM stuff but moot point.
Tom McIntosh
Maybe Thunder or Wranglers isn’t the best choices out there but I’d say it’s more unique than a black and silver (and gold) medieval themed west coast team. We’ve already got that in L.A. I for one hope we shoot for something that hasn’t been done already.
VD
Tom, not easy to find new themes in todays day and age without them being far out or corny themselves. I know what you mean but as far as I can tell we will be cheering for Animals, Indians, Cowboys, Knights, Geo locations and Iconic landmarks etc for a very very very long time. People are attached to things that way and no one has replaced the iconic Western Cowboy or Knight yet.
btw a Wrangler is no less iconic and actually less so imo. If the use of Thunder is not played out yet either in your eyes I can make a list 😉
Truth is if it is Silver Knights, some will complain most will love it, you cannot please everyone right. However within a few day it sinks in, is accepted and even you Tom will buy some merch lol
Tom McIntosh
Yeah you’re probably right lol
Drew
Las Vegas Hitmen is the best option……likely no chance of happening though. 🙁
Las Vegas Outlaws would be great.
And finally Las Vegas Knights…..any preface to Knights takes away from the name and flow. It looses its spark. I haven’t found a trademark registration for it so I hope it’s still an option.