Kate Wik, chief marketing officer of the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority<\/a>, recalls the moment that Prazer made her big pitch: \u201cI was sitting in a conference room and she’s at the other end of the table pitching this crazy idea with Stefano [Domenicali, president and CEO of Formula 1],\u201d Wik says. \u201cThe woman is phenomenal in terms of all the balls that she juggles and the creative vision that comes out of her is just unparalleled.\u201d Kate Wik (far left) attends the Las Vegas Grand Prix preview in March 2025. <\/p>\n Prazer is one of many women who have been fitting the pieces of the Vegas sports scene together for the past few years. \u201cIf you think about it, the majority of sports in Las Vegas are run by women,\u201d Prazer says, citing Sandra Douglass Morgan<\/a>, president of NFL\u2019s Las Vegas Raiders, and Nikki Fargas<\/a>, president of WNBA\u2019s Las Vegas Aces, as examples. \u201cThey are super supportive of not just women in business, but women in sports.\u201d <\/p>\n Here\u2019s how Vegas became officially known as a \u201csports city,\u201d and more of the women who worked to make that happen… Wik moved to Vegas 15 years ago for a job with MGM Grand\u2014but she didn\u2019t plan on staying long. \u201cVegas is one of those places you don’t expect to ever move to,\u201d she says. \u201cI told my husband and my family, let’s go for a year, let\u2019s give it a try and see what it’s all about, it’ll be great for my resume.\u201d But now, she\u2019s not planning on going anywhere any time soon. It\u2019s been \u201can amazing ride,\u201d she emphasizes. <\/p>\n She\u2019s witnessed Vegas evolve over the past 15 years, yet \u201cit\u2019s really been within the past decade that we’ve exploded onto the sports scene,\u201d she says. Although sports\u2014including NASCAR, the NBA Summer League, and boxing\u2014have been in Vegas\u2019s DNA for much longer, Wik cites infrastructure developments like the opening of the T-Mobile Arena (home of the NHL\u2019s Vegas Golden Knights<\/a>) in 2016 as part of the full-on sports evolution push. <\/p>\n \u201cThe idea of hockey in the desert was sort of frowned upon,\u201d Wik says. \u201cPeople didn’t think it would work, but the success of that proved that we could punch above our weight in terms of being a small town, but able to host a professional sports team.\u201d<\/p>\n Katy Boettinger (bottom right, front) with the Vegas Golden Knights after the Stanley Cup finals win in 2023.<\/p>\n When Katy Boettinger, director of hockey administration for the Vegas Golden Knights, arrived in 2016 to help the players relocate and get the team\u2019s scouts set up, she says she noticed an inherent passion for sports woven into the fabric of Vegas culture. That was also, in part, due to the fact that it\u2019s a haven for tourists who want to keep tabs on their home teams. \u201cIt was my first experience living somewhere where I didn’t have to ask for the TV to be turned on to a hockey game,\u201d says Boettinger.<\/p>\n Then, in 2017, the WNBA\u2019s San Antonio Stars became the Las Vegas Aces<\/a>. \u201cThey’re now our back-to-back world champions,\u201d Wik says. Becky Hammon, head coach of the Las Vegas Aces, played on the team when it was still based in San Antonio. She moved on to become the first woman to be a full-time assistant coach in the NBA with the San Antonio Spurs, and remembers feeling \u201cshocked\u201d to hear the news that her former team was moving to Las Vegas. <\/p>\n \u201cWhen they sold ’em to Vegas, I felt, I wouldn’t say salty about it, but I loved having that women’s team that the community and the young girls in south Texas could look up to,\u201d she says. \u201cI had no idea it was going to loop me back in a few years later.\u201d In 2022, she came back as head coach for the team, and yep, moved to Vegas. Now, she says, \u201cVegas turned itself into the sports capital of the world. It’s not just the strip anymore. It’s the strip and sports.\u201d <\/p>\n \u201cVegas turned itself into the sports capital of the world. It’s not just the strip anymore. It’s the strip and sports.”<\/p>\n Next, Allegiant Stadium opened in 2020, which opened the door for the Raiders to come to town. While she wasn\u2019t with the team at the time, Sandra Douglass Morgan, now president of the Las Vegas Raiders, remembers what it was like when the idea of the Raiders coming from Oakland to Vegas was first floated. Douglass Morgan, who has lived in Vegas since she was two years old, was working as a lawyer in telecommunications and was in the building when the special session vote happened for public support for the stadium. \u201cI remember being there, very late at night, and it was a very, very exciting time,\u201d she says. <\/p>\n Since then, Vegas hosted the Grand Prix in 2023 (and will do so again this November), as well as the Super Bowl LVIII (in 2024) and the Stanley Cup finals (in 2023), and multiple WNBA All-Star games. <\/p>\n Some might think that the sports world\u2014especially the Vegas sports world\u2014would be particularly male-dominated. But that\u2019s simply not true, and the community as a whole is welcome and supportive of all. \u201cThere’s a lot of movers and shakers in this town from a female leadership perspective, and I’m proud to help support every one of them in their missions,\u201d Wik says. <\/p>\n Douglass Morgan, for example, is one of two female presidents in the NFL. (The other president is Kristi Coleman of the Carolina Panthers.) But about half the Las Vegas Raiders leadership team are women, she says, and the team has a female strength and conditioning coach and a female scout, in addition to many more in other areas of the business. <\/p>\n Sandra Douglass Morgan, president of the Las Vegas Raiders.<\/p>\n More broadly, Douglass Morgan says the NFL has some good programs in place to support women in football, including the NFL Women’s Forum<\/a> to expose more women to the business operations side\u2014and those women don\u2019t just check a box: \u201cThey’re also delivering results, and I want to make sure that that is not lost on the readers,\u201d she says. \u201cYou have people that have different points of view, maybe different backgrounds and upbringings, but if their passion is for the team, and in this case, it’s for the Las Vegas Raiders, then whoever’s going to help us win, that’s who I want on my team.\u201d<\/p>\n Kim Frank, chief community officer, foundation president, and player programming manager of the Vegas Golden Knights, is another example of a rockstar female in sports leadership. \u201cAs a result of all of her work, the Knights from day one have been so firmly entrenched in the community,\u201d Boettinger says, which was super important since the team is \u201cVegas born.\u201d (The many kids growing up in Vegas today will grow up as fans of their hometown sports teams, unlike the adults who inherited them, Boettinger points out.) Hammon adds the late Elaine Wynn to the list, who helped lay the groundwork well before the team moved to Vegas: \u201cShe was a huge supporter of women’s sports and was a season ticket holder for the Aces,\u201d Hammon says. <\/p>\n Icons Of Coaching<\/p>\n Boettinger says she doesn\u2019t feel out of a place as a woman in a hockey environment: \u201cI think that that is so culture-driven,\u201d she says, adding that the culture that George McPhee, president of hockey operations for the Vegas Golden Knights, created for both the Knights and formerly the Washington Capitals where they also worked together, is inclusive. <\/p>\n \u201cThere’s no trying to fight your way in the door or anything like that,\u201d she says. In fact, if anything, it\u2019s been the opposite: \u201cThey’ve always been very good about finding ways that my skill set or the lens that I have can contribute to whatever it is that makes up that total picture,\u201d she says. \u201cI do realize in some aspects that’s an experience that I’ve been fortunate to have, where that’s the norm.\u201d<\/p>\n Las Vegas Aces president Nikki Fargas (center) at an Aces game with in-game host Joe Brown (left) and Aces mascot BUCKET$ (right). <\/p>\n What The Future Will Look Like <\/p>\n For starters, the F1 Academy, a women-only racing series, will come to Vegas this November, in part thanks to Prazer\u2019s advocacy in addition to that of managing director Susie Wolff. \u201cHaving the opportunity to bring it to a destination that sparkles and gives the girls the opportunity to race in a place like Vegas is just something that I don’t think anyone could turn down, so I wanted to make sure that they were here,\u201d Prazer says.<\/p>\n A Major League Baseball stadium is currently under construction on Las Vegas Boulevard where the Las Vegas A\u2019s will play in 2028. \u201cThere’s a lot of rumors about potentially an NBA team and that would be phenomenal to see,\u201d Wik adds. \u201cYou never know what’s going to show up in Vegas, and I think that’s kind of what makes this destination so special.\u201d <\/p>\n Douglass Morgan says she believes the fact that Vegas is a place of reinvention and reimagination explains why so many people move here. \u201cWho would have thought that there would be an oasis of gaming in the middle of the desert in the 60s and 70s?\u201d Then in the 90s and 2000s, integrated resorts brought shows, shopping, and celebrity chefs. \u201cEvery few decades, Vegas is kind of able to reinvent itself, and it has more recently with sports coming here,\u201d she says. <\/p>\n Yes, it\u2019s true: Vegas is in its Sports era\u2014and plans to stay in it for a long long time. <\/p>\n The Best Places To Watch Sports in Vegas<\/p>\n \u201cYou don’t even have to have a ticket to the game to be a part of the action, and that is so unique in this town,\u201d Wik says. Here, a few of the women of Vegas share their favorite spots to catch a game or event. <\/p>\n McMullin’s Irish Pub<\/a>: \u201cIt’s a big hockey bar, it’s family owned, and they have all sports, including Premier League,\u201d Boettinger says. \u201cSo if I want a full day of sports, that’s where I’ll usually go to watch ’em.\u201dStadium Swim at Circa Las Vegas<\/a>: This rooftop pool in downtown Las Vegas has massive screens. \u201cSo you’re having a pool party watching the game,\u201d Wik says. \u201cYou pinch yourself, you think, is this real?\u201dGrand Prix Plaza<\/a>: Prazer admits she\u2019s biased, but she says that \u201cwatching sports at our venue is the best.\u201d Built on 39 acres, the plaza includes an immersive Formula 1 experience, a restaurant, a bar, a store, simulators, and many TVs to catch live or past races. Going to a sports game in Vegas means a leveled-up entertainment experience too. Boettinger says that the main competition for sports teams is actually the \u201cglitz and glamour\u201d of Vegas. \u201cHere in Vegas you have a top act performing across the street for a sold out show, so you have to come up with something that brings the fans in,\u201d she says. Elsewhere, \u201cit’s almost unheard of for people to all be in their seats before the team even hits the ice. But here, they want to see the Knight dueling with the enemy and they want to see the dragon and they want to see the lights.\u201d (The Knights consider their pre-game show a \u201ctheatrical production.\u201d)<\/p>\n Raiders fans, too, get in on the excitement. The recent \u201cWelcome To Fabulous\u201d campaign debuted at a game in September and involved an \u201cexperiential runway that merges pro football pageantry with the vibrant spirit of the campaign\u201d instead of the typical tunnel walk at other stadiums, where players enter and run onto the field. \u201cHonestly, it doesn’t matter who your team is and what game you’re at, the entertainment experience, a part of every sporting event here, raises the bar on what these professional games are supposed to be,\u201d Wik says.<\/p>\n Caitlin is\u00a0a health and fitness journalist based in New York City. In addition to Women’s Health, she writes for publications including\u00a0The Wall Street Journal and Runner\u2019s World.\u00a0She’s completed 12 marathons, including the six World Marathon Majors, is semi-fluent in French, and volunteers as a greeter on The High Line. Follow her on Instagram<\/a> or LinkedIn<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n![\"formula](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/vegas-secondary2-68e5500782263.png\" "\\"formula")
Courtesy of Subject<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n![\"gradient](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/wh-linebreakers2-68e5510063279.png\" "\\"gradient")
The Rise of Sports in the Desert<\/p>\n![\"celebration](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/vegas-secondary3-68e551f1712f2.png\" "\\"celebration")
Courtesy of Katy Boettinger and the Vegas Golden Knights<\/p>\n![\"divider](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/wh-linebreakers-68e5517decda3.png\" "\\"divider")
A Woman In A Boys Club <\/p>\n![\"las](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/vegas-secondary5-68e550a488a5c.png\" "\\"las")
Courtesy of the Las Vegas Raiders<\/p>\n![\"las](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/vegas-secondary6-68e5530ef2bd2.png\" "\\"las")
Courtesy of Subject<\/p>\nVegas: Where Sports Compete With\u2014And Meet\u2014Entertainment<\/p>\n![\"Lettermark\"](\"https:\/\/www.womenshealthmag.com\/_assets\/design-tokens\/womenshealthmag\/static\/images\/logos\/lettermark.f613c4d.svg?primary=%2523000\")
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