The Howard Hughes Corporation®, owner of the Las Vegas 51s®, the city’s professional Triple-A baseball team of the Pacific Coast League (PCL), and developer of the Summerlin® master planned community and the Las Vegas Ballpark currently under construction at Downtown Summerlin®, announced today the team’s new name – the Las Vegas Aviators®.
The announcement of the new name included the unveiling of the team’s new logo and was made at a special event at Downtown Summerlin hosted by The Howard Hughes Corporation. The event was attended by close to 2,000 guests, including representatives from Minor League Baseball, former Major League Baseball players now living in Las Vegas, as well as season ticket holders, community leaders, and nearly a dozen little leaguers from throughout the valley.
Speakers and attendees included David R. Weinreb, CEO of The Howard Hughes Corporation; Kevin T. Orrock, President, Summerlin; Pat O’Conner, President and Chief Executive Officer, Minor League Baseball; Branch Rickey, President of the Pacific Coast League and grandson of baseball legend Branch Rickey; Don Logan, President and Chief Operating Officer of the Las Vegas Aviators; and Steve Hill, CEO, Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority.
The name change comes on the heels of the team’s September announcement of its new two-year Player Development Contract (PDC) with the Oakland A’s and in advance of the spring 2019 completion of the Las Vegas Ballpark. The new, state-of-the-art Triple-A baseball stadium will serve as home of the newly named Las Vegas Aviators with the home, season and stadium opener slated for April 9, 2019.
The Aviators name officially went live today with newly branded merchandise and apparel available for purchase at the Las Vegas Ballpark Sales Center at Downtown Summerlin, as well as online at AviatorsLV.com.
According to Weinreb, the name change pays homage to the company’s namesake, Howard R. Hughes, Jr., one of the twentieth century’s most successful businessmen whose passion for aviation and legacy of innovation includes significant aviation-related firsts and accomplishments. In the H-1 Racer, a plane he designed and built, Hughes set the land speed record of 352 miles per hour in 1935. Hughes went on to set other records, including the fastest coast-to-coast flight in 1937 and the fastest circumnavigation of the globe in 1938, then acquiring and successfully operating major airlines and aviation companies. “Hughes’ vision and ambition were unmatched,” said Weinreb. “That, along with his imprint on Las Vegas where his legacy has helped shape the community for more than three decades, makes the decision to name the team in his honor an easy one. The Las Vegas Aviators is the perfect name for the city’s oldest professional sports team, one that is now launching an exciting new chapter with a brand-new stadium in Summerlin and a new major league affiliation.”
The name, the Las Vegas Aviators, was chosen from hundreds of names submitted by the general public through a competition in which the community was invited to participate in the naming process. According to Weinreb, the Aviators was a popular name nominated by many Southern Nevadans.
“Everyone is excited about our new name,” said Don Logan, the team’s President and Chief Operating Officer, who has been with the franchise for 35 years. “With new ownership, our impending move into the Las Vegas Ballpark and our new professional affiliation, this is the perfect time to rebrand the city’s beloved baseball team. The Aviators was a popular nomination from our fans, and it’s a fitting new moniker for the city’s first professional sports franchise as we start our next exciting chapter.”
About Summerlin
Developed by The Howard Hughes Corporation, Summerlin began to take shape in 1990 and has ranked in the country’s top 10 best-selling master-planned communities for nearly two decades. Located along the western rim of the Las Vegas valley, Summerlin encompasses 22,500 acres with approximately 6,000 gross acres still remaining to accommodate future growth, including infrastructure, open space and common areas, all within the master plan. The community is currently home to nearly 100,000 residents who enjoy an unparalleled list of amenities. These include more than 250 neighborhood and village parks, more than 150 completed miles of trails, 26 public and private schools, 14 houses of worship, ten golf courses, shopping centers, medical and cultural facilities, business parks and dozens of actively selling floor plans. Homes are available in a variety of styles – from single-family homes to townhomes– priced from the $300,000s to more than $2.5 million. For information on custom homesites in The Ridges please call 702.255.2500. Luxury apartment homes offer monthly rents starting from the $900s.
About The Howard Hughes Corporation®
The Howard Hughes Corporation owns, manages and develops commercial, residential and mixed-use real estate throughout the U.S. Our properties include master planned communities, operating properties, development opportunities and other unique assets spanning 14 states from New York to Hawai‘i. The Howard Hughes Corporation is traded on the New York Stock Exchange as HHC with major offices in New York, Columbia, MD, Dallas, Houston, Las Vegas and Honolulu. For additional information about HHC, visit www.howardhughes.com, or find us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and LinkedIn.
Safe Harbor Statement
Statements made in this press release that are not historical facts, including statements accompanied by words such as “will,” “believe,” “expect,” “enables,” “realize”, “plan,” “intend,” “assume,” “transform” and other words of similar expression, are forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements are based on management’s expectations, estimates, assumptions, and projections as of the date of this release and are not guarantees of future performance. Actual results may differ materially from those expressed or implied in these statements. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially are set forth as risk factors in The Howard Hughes Corporation’s filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including its Quarterly and Annual Reports. The Howard Hughes Corporation cautions you not to place undue reliance on the forward-looking statements contained in this release. The Howard Hughes Corporation does not undertake any obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements to reflect future events, information or circumstances that arise after the date of this release.