Few places in the world evoke images quite like Las Vegas; the bright lights of Sin City are set in the middle of the dusty Mojave desert, and it’s here that USL side Las Vegas Lights have their home in Cashman Field. Didn’t have to ask twice for us to make this the next stop in our Residence series. Viva Las Vegas!
Las Vegas Lights may have popped up on your radar recently thanks to two bespoke beauties from Meyba, after the Barca-based brand selected the USL side as their canvas for their triumphant return to the professional game. So we figured why not get to know the club a little better, and what better way to get to know someone than by visiting their home?
Located in the heart of downtown Las Vegas with the sprawling Mojave desert as a backdrop, Cashman Field is an historic 10,000-seat stadium that was originally built in the 1940’s. In 1982 it was torn down and built into its current iteration where it served as the home of minor league baseball side Las Vegas Stars/51s (now called the Aviators) for decades. Lights FC played their first game there on February 10, 2018, an exhibition match against the Montreal Impact of Major League Soccer (MLS) in front of a crowd of 10,383 people. Prior to the 2019 season, the baseball team moved to a new stadium in Summerlin leaving Cashman Field to be the full-time professional soccer venue that it is today.
The ground itself shares similarities with several other stadiums across the States through its baseball origins, but it had an advantage over others in that it was already well suited to the shape of a football (soccer) pitch. Despite that it still underwent further alterations in April 2019 to truly convert it into a football stadium, and it now boasts excellent sight lines and fan amenities near the field-of-play, with the stands still only covering two sides of the pitch, in true baseball style.
The grass (if you can call it that) takes on the dried out look of the surrounding desert – certainly would not fancy being the groundsman. The views from the stands beyond the pitch take in the Nevada background, lending the stadium its own character, and one that the side will be sure to build upon as their own profile rises.
The Lights could have a very short tenancy at the Cashman Field, with a proposed 25,000 capacity stadium in the pipeline on the same site.
Pick up the Las Vegas Lights 2022 Home and Away shirts at prodirectsoccer.com
Photography by SoccerBible.
