The Las Vegas Lights have never made the playoffs in the USL Championship. They’ve never even finished higher than ninth place. In their first six seasons of existence in the second division of American men’s professional soccer, they put up a total goal difference of minus-120.
Historically, no club in the USL has been worse on the pitch or more error-prone off it.
Las Vegas’ average attendance is down 79% since their debut season, a victim of that on-field ineptitude and some marketing gimmickry. Under their previous ownership, the Lights resorted to stunts like on-field llamas or helicopter money drops that caught eyes but undercut the experience for the most committed fans, and occasionally drew criticism from the FAA. MLS expansion rumblings always cast a shadow over the Lights, making them feel like an also-ran in a major market.
And yet, for all of their struggles, the Las Vegas Lights turned things around almost overnight.
Here's how.
The Lights were sold to former Major League Baseball star Jose Bautista this winter and they’ve swiftly become a contender in the Western Conference.
Bautista had a blank slate to overhaul his club, and he trusted two young leaders to help him in the process: Las Vegas appointed Dennis Sanchez as head coach on January 29th and Gianleonardo Neglia as the sporting director on February 2nd.
The new braintrust had a short runway and were well aware of the challenges ahead.
“I remember the first week after taking the job of making phone calls and speaking to agents and different clubs. I would say ‘Las Vegas Lights,’ and you would almost hear a click on the other end of the phone,” Neglia recalled in an interview with Backheeled. “I’d say ‘don't even go on the Internet and look to see what the Las Vegas Lights were.’ Imagine it as an expansion team. If people went online and saw the games, they wouldn't have any interest.”
Both Neglia and Sanchez are hesitant to point out specific faults with the prior regime; neither was on the ground or inside the locker room. Still, the problems were obvious from afar.
“If I had to point to one thing, it was inconsistency with identity. They went from going for more experience to the partnership with LAFC,” Sanchez said, referring to a past developmental deal that saw dozens of MLS prospects end up in Las Vegas on loan. “I don't know if the change from year to year in terms of the overarching club identity helps,” he added.
Solomon Asante concurs. Now in his seventh USL season and his first in Las Vegas, Asante is a veritable league legend. The 34-year-old has 51 and 56 assists in his USL career to go right along with two MVP awards and his four-year spell with Phoenix Rising was one of the most dominant team runs in the history of the Championship.
