Color of Hockey: Golden Knights bolster outreach to Spanish-speaking fans

William Douglas has been writing The Color of Hockey blog since 2012. Douglas joined NHL.com in 2019 and writes about people of color in the sport. Today, he profiles LosVGK, a new program launched by the Vegas Golden Knights to increase outreach to Spanish-speaking fans in Las Vegas and beyond.

Benjamin Thomas attended his first Vegas Golden Knights game during their inaugural NHL season in 2017-18 and instantly became hooked on hockey.

“I’m a Vegas kid, Hispanic background, was never really into hockey until the Golden Knights got here,” Thomas said. “I went to my first game, against the Pittsburgh Penguins. It was really fast-paced, really exciting, very few moments in the game where there’s nothing happening.”

The 28-year-old Mexican American hopes to spread his love for hockey across Las Vegas’ Hispanic community and beyond as the Golden Knights’ new director of Latino Marketing and Outreach.

He’s helping to oversee LosVGK, a brand launched by the Golden Knights in October to celebrate and engage their Spanish-speaking fan base, promote the growth of hockey in Nevada’s Clark County and throughout the team’s television territory and strengthen alliances with the Hispanic community.

“I think the end goal here," Thomas said, "is that if we can reach our Spanish-speaking audience of all ages in a way that is authentic and really celebrates and represents the Hispanic community the way it deserves to be celebrated, I think that’s a win.”

LosVGK is taking an authentic approach from its elaborately festive logo -- designed by Golden Knights staffer Stephanie Suominen, who is of Colombian descent -- to the Spanish-language page on the team’s website, vegasgoldenknights.com.

The page builds on the Golden Knights’ earlier Spanish-language media efforts. Vegas has done radio broadcasts of home games in Spanish since 2017 and aired home and away games during the 2023 Stanley Cup championship run in Spanish on Deportes Vegas 1460 AM.

The Golden Knights launched Spanish-language social media accounts on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter (@losvgk) and Instagram (@losgoldenknights) in 2019.

“The launch of the LosVGK brand is the next evolution in our ongoing efforts to authentically connect with Hispanic and Latino residents of the Las Vegas Valley and beyond,” Golden Knights chief marketing officer Eric Tosi said. “With our existing Spanish-language social media channels, radio broadcast and Theme Knights, we are proud of the organization-wide initiatives to date and believe that our LosVGK program will advance our connections even further.”

The Golden Knights are also selling LosVGK T-shirts, hoodies, hats and more at The Arsenal at City National Arena and The Livery at America First Center in Henderson, Nevada. Vegas is among a growing number of NHL teams that has embarked on or expanded its Hispanic outreach efforts in their markets, and with good reason.

Nearly 35 percent of Las Vegas’ population is Hispanic, and almost 30 percent of the state is Hispanic, according to 2022 U.S. Census and Nevada legislature figures.

Thomas said research by Nielsen Scarborough found that 17.5 percent of the Golden Knights fan base identifies as Hispanic or Latino.

“Interestingly, about 60 percent is female and 38 percent below the age of 35,” he said. “That a very young, Hispanic segment.”

The Golden Knights featured LosVGK during their Spanish Heritage Knight game against the Winnipeg Jets on Nov. 2, which coincided with Dia de los Muertos, or Day of the Dead, celebration Nov. 1-2 to remember and honor late loved ones.

The team displayed the Golden Knights shield logo with the look of a traditional sugar skull along with the LosVGK logo, each designed by Suominen.

A mariachi band from the Las Vegas Academy, a local high school, and Vegas-born DJ Shelco Garcia entertained fans at T-Mobile arena. Fans were able to have their faces painted for the celebration at stations inside and outside of the arena.

An ofrenda, an altar used during the Dia de los Muertos, was set up for people who wanted to remember friends or relatives who passed away by placing flowers or photos at the altar.

The following day. The Golden Knights hosted a youth ball hockey clinic at the James Boys & Girls Club in North Las Vegas.

“We want to grow the game of hockey, so I’ll be partnering up with our community outreach and VGK Foundation team who put on ball hockey clinics anyway,” said Thomas, who earned a master’s degree in urban leadership from the University of Nevada Las Vegas in 2021. “But now it’s, like, ‘OK, let us look at which areas are predominantly Hispanic, or is there a specific school that we can partner with or work with.’

“It’s a lot of kind of waking up and thinking about everything we’re doing already, ‘How can we further the touch and communicate with that part of our community?’”