When the Vegas Golden Knights and Las Vegas Raiders run out onto the Las Vegas Ballpark diamond tonight, no one will be checking the standings. Bragging rights, however, will definitely be on the line.

Battle For Vegas returns for its seventh year at Las Vegas Ballpark at Downtown Summerlin, where a roster of professional hockey and football players will take to the softball field for an evening of competition and community that has become one of the valley’s most beloved summer traditions. Since its debut in 2019, the event has raised more than $1.2 million for local nonprofits — and each year, the formula stays the same: high-profile athletes, friendly rivalry, and a cause that cuts close to home.

This year’s proceeds benefit the Battle For Vegas Foundation and its community partners, including Candlelighters Childhood Cancer Foundation of Nevada and Cure 4 The Kids Foundation, two Las Vegas-based organizations that serve children battling cancer and their families. Candlelighters provides free mental health services and emotional support programs to families from diagnosis through treatment and beyond. Cure 4 The Kids Foundation, Southern Nevada’s nationally recognized treatment center for children facing cancer and rare diseases, delivers clinical care, research and advocacy for its young patients.

“We’re proud to support these incredible organizations through Battle For Vegas,” said James Sullivan, co-founder of Battle For Vegas. “Reilly Smith and Brock Bowers are deeply committed to giving back and played a major role in helping us expand our nonprofit partnerships this year.”

Golden Knights winger Smith returns as host and Team Vegas captain, squaring off against Las Vegas Raiders tight end Bowers, who leads Team Raiders. The series between the franchises is knotted at three wins apiece, making this year’s game the tiebreaker.

Tonight’s event carries an added layer of nostalgia: Five members of the Golden Knights’ beloved Original Misfits — the expansion team players who captured Las Vegas’ heart during the teams’s run to the Stanley Cup Final in 2017-18 — are taking part. Smith, defenseman Shea Theodore and former Knights forward Ryan Reaves will play. Deryk Engelland, the defenseman who delivered an iconic pregame speech at the team’s first home game Oct. 10, 2017, nine days after the Route 91 Harvest festival mass shooting, is slated to assist with on-field charity activities. And center William Karlsson, Vegas’ “Wild Bill,” is slated to serve as third-base coach — his role limited by a broken wrist he sustained in Game 5 of this year’s Stanley Cup Final.

Smith, 35, was selected by Las Vegas in the 2017 NHL expansion draft and helped the team win the Stanley Cup in 2023 before being traded to Pittsburgh that same year, then to the New York Rangers. The Golden Knights reacquired him in March 2025, and he finished the 2025-26 regular season with 16 goals and 26 points in 69 games. Theodore and Karlsson, also original 2017 expansion picks, remain on the active roster. Reaves, now with the San Jose Sharks after four seasons in Vegas, has remained a fan favorite in the city. Engelland, who played for the Knights from 2017 to 2020, now serves as special assistant to owner Bill Foley and is involved with the Vegas Golden Knights Alumni Foundation.

Bowers, the Raiders’ 23-year-old tight end who broke the NFL record for receptions by a rookie with 112 catches in 2024, enters his third NFL season with rising expectations after battling a knee injury through much of 2025. New head coach Klint Kubiak has called Bowers “a football robot from heaven” and has made maximizing the former Georgia star a centerpiece of his offensive plans.

The full Team Smith roster features current Golden Knights players Carter Hart, Adin Hill, Keegan Kolesar, Braeden Bowman, Trevor Connelly and Alexander Holtz, alongside the three active Misfits. Backstreet Boys member Nick Carter, a Las Vegas resident, will perform the national anthem before taking the field as a member of Team Smith.

Team Bowers features current Raiders players Eric Stokes, Mike Washington, Keyron Crawford, Kwity Paye, Jack Bech, Jalen Nailor and Jonah Laulu, a Centennial High School alumnus and the first Las Vegas native to suit up for the Raiders since they moved to the city. Joining them is former Raiders linebacker Kirk Morrison — the franchise’s all-time leading tackler during his five seasons with the then-Oakland Raiders from 2005 to 2009, and now the team’s lead radio color analyst.

Team mascots Chance, Spruce the Goose and Aviator are also scheduled to appear.

Gates open at 6 p.m., followed by a home run derby presented by the Athletics at 7 p.m. The U.S. Air Force Thunderbirds are scheduled to perform a flyover around 7:30 p.m. as part of the America250 celebration, a communitywide event honoring the nation’s 250th anniversary in which Las Vegas Ballpark is one of 10 landmarks and neighborhoods across the Las Vegas Valley participating. First pitch is set for 8 p.m. Postgame fireworks close out the evening.

Tickets start at $40 and are available at Ticketmaster.com.