The Reno sports fan base, although it doesn’t expand much outside of the Sierras, has undergone a recent decline in attendance. Although the Nevada men’s basketball team saw a spike under former head coach Eric Musselman, he who would sometimes take his shirt off for on camera celebrations, the Wolf Pack football team saw its lowest total fan turnout in pre-pandemic days in 2019 (97,080 fans) since 2011 (93,685). It has been a troubling trend. The Reno Events Center would be riddled with open seats during the ten-year Reno Bighorn era which began in 2008.
Along with the Bighorns, the Biggest Little City in the world has been home to multiple college and minor league sports teams, many of them deceased.
In soccer, Reno 1868 FC made its debut in the USL Championship in March 2017 only to cease operations during the pandemic. Serving as minor league affiliate for the San Jose Earthquakes of Major League Soccer, Reno 1868 played in 120 games -- 60 at Greater Nevada Field -- and went 62-30-28 with a 2-4 playoff record in that tenure. It attracted a small but loyal fan base, and crowds were bigger when there were special exhibition games involving teams from Mexico.
In ice hockey, the Reno Renegades started in the 1995–96 season in the WCHL, became the Reno Rage in 1997, but folded that season. They played in the Reno-Sparks Convention Center, and attracted attention when they signed female goaltender Manon Rhéaume who appeared in 11 regular season games for the during the 1996–97 season.
Greater Nevada Field still hosts the Minor League Baseball team, the Reno Aces. The Aces are a part of the Triple-A division -- the best among the six minor league divisions. Greater Nevada Field, formally called “Aces Ballpark”, has played host to the Aces since 2009. It can seat over 9,000 people. With COVID-19 still going, they are scheduled to host 50 percent of its fire code capacity at Greater Nevada Field when the season opens next month.
The Reno Events Center is the former home of the Reno Bighorns, who served as the D-League affiliate of the Sacramento Kings for nine seasons, as well as hosting the Reno Barons and the Reno Express. The Reno Events Center holds up to 7,500 people.
The Bighorns played in the Reno Events Center (above) since the franchise formed prior to the 2008-09 D-League season. In their nine seasons, they went an even 225-225 -- including 34-16 in 2010-11 under Musselman, who also coached the Nevada Wolf Pack men’s basketball team from 2015-19. The Bighorns relocated permanently to Stockton, Calif., prior to the start of the 2018-19 season, renaming themselves the Stockton Kings.
The Barons, an arena football team, and the Express, an indoor professional football team, resided in Reno Events Center for one season each. The Barons logged just one win in its only game as a franchise. The Express went 6-6 in its lone season in 2019.
Mackay Stadium is the current home to the Nevada Wolf Pack football and women’s soccer teams. The current Mackay Stadium finished construction in 1965 with an original seating capacity of approximately 7,500 people. Several renovations later, the half-century old stadium can seat up to 30,000 people, although that number was significantly limited this year due to COVID-19 restrictions.
The original Mackay Stadium was constructed in 1908, named after Clarence Mackay, an American financier, chairman of the board of the Postal Telegraph and Cable Corporation and president of the Mackay Radio and Telegraph Company.
Lawlor Events Center (above) is the current home to the Nevada men’s and women’s basketball teams, seating over 11,000 people. It has hosted the men’s team since it opened in Nov. of 1983; it has played host to the women’s team since 1994-95. The highest attendance in the arena’s history was when it jam-packed 11,841 people in an intrastate battle between Nevada and UNLV in the 2016-17 season, where the Wolf Pack came out on top 104-77.
The Virginia Street Gym, formally called the “Old Gym” has existed since 1945, seating up to 1,800 people. Although it has stood for nearly 80 years, it became the full-time home for the Wolf Pack volleyball team in 1994 after it was an all-sport arena for the 49 years prior.
Peccole Park, which seats up to 3,000 people, has been the home to the Nevada Wolf Pack college baseball team since 1988. It also played host to the Reno Silver Sox from 2006 to 2008, when they were a part of the Golden Baseball League. It went 110-134 over that span. The Silver Sox are a now-ceased minor league baseball team who existed from 1947-1992 and 2006-08.
Speaking of the Silver Sox, they played in Moana Stadium in a first stint. Moana Stadium ballpark finished construction in 1946. The Silver Sox, a Class C affiliate of the New York Giants at the time, began playing at the beginning of the franchise’s establishment in 1947. The original stadium burned down in 1960, but was refurbished in the same location for the 1961 season. After the Silver Sox relocated in 1992, the historical ballpark stood for two more decades before it was destroyed in 2012.
Why has Reno lost so many of their teams?
The reasons, depending on the organization, vary. For the Bighorns, one big reason the franchise was relocated was because Stockton was closer to Sacramento and the Kings; the travel from Stockton to Sacramento is 45 minutes, as opposed to the two-plus hours it takes from Reno to Sacramento. It makes it more readily accessible for fans, assistant coaches and scouts to track player development. It’s also easier for the players to travel in between sites.
“Our NBA G League team has been an incredible asset to help prepare players for NBA action and bringing the team closer to Sacramento will allow us to continue to build on that success and increase efficiency to this valuable development tool … Kings fans in Stockton will now have an opportunity to see the next-generation of NBA players each week,” said Kings general manager Vlade Divac at the time, via a press release.
In Nov. of 2020, the Reno 1868 FC announced it would cease because of the COVID-19 financial impact the franchise underwent. In their last stretch, no fans were permitted in the stadium for in-person seating for all but two playoff games.
The Silver Sox relocated to Riverside, Calif., and became the Riverside Pilots in 1993 due to Moana Stadium’s subpar conditions. It returned in 2006 in Peccole Park, playing just three seasons there (as noted above).
The Reno Barons cut their season after just one game due financial problems and inability to pay players. The Express took the 2020 season off to attract more of a following with the hopes of returning in 2021, but COVID-19 has halted their return.
It seems expensive and not worth the hassle for those who have looked into it to have a new minor league hockey team in Reno, with bus travel back and over the pass being challenging during the winter and spring.
There hasn’t been just one answer; different factors have contributed to their downfalls.