MÖTLEY CRÜE's VINCE NEIL Says American Football Is In His Blood

MÖTLEY CRÜE singer Vince Neil is also the CEO of Rockstar Sports Group, which was officially awarded an expansion team in Las Vegas by the AFL (Arena Football League). AFL Commissioner Jerry Kurz made the official announcement during the third quarter of the 2014 Arena Bowl (XXVII),which was broadcast live on ESPN on August 23.

Neil, together with his business partners in Rockstar Sports Group, Bob Hewko, a former Florida Gators and Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback, aviation businessman Mark Daniels, and technology businessman Sohrob Farudi, has set out to begin building the Las Vegas-based team named the Las Vegas Outlaws. Vince and his partners, who had become minority owners of the AFL Jacksonville Sharks in April this year, saw the opportunity to acquire an expansion team for the Las Vegas market and jumped on it. With the award of the Las Vegas team, the minority ownership in the Jacksonville team will be divested in compliance with AFL regulations.

Speaking to ESPN 1100AM's Chuck Ojeda about the singer's love of football, Neil said (see video below): "I've been a football fan since I was just a kid. My dad was from Texas, so he made me watch the Dallas Cowboys all the time. It's just a great sport; it's a lot of fun. And football is in my blood, I think."

Asked what went into his decision to buy the Las Vegas Outlaws, Neil said: "Here's the thing: I love arena ball; I think it's so fast and it's exciting. And so I started out by buying a minority share of the Jacksonville Sharks — just to kind of get my feet wet — and then asked to get the franchise, and all the team owners approved it. It's like a dream come true. Getting an expansion team in a league is pretty hard as it is. So it's exciting. We've already signed some great players. And then we have the expansion draft."

Regarding what having the Las Vegas Outlaws will do for the city of Las Vegas, Neil said: "Arena ball is all about family and community. And that's what I wanna do; I wanna make something exciting for the community to come out and rally behind — their football team — and have a fun thing for families to bring their kids to the games and yell and scream. You're there in the game; you're yelling and screaming at the refs and screaming at the coaches and you're screaming at the players. And so it's right in your face. So it's cool. And hopefully we'll get the whole community around us, and by the looks of it, it's working."

Asked whether MÖTLEY CRÜE will perform at the halftime show when the Las Vegas Outlaws are in the championship, Neil said: "Eh…. [Laughs] I would say I would definitely perform. Trying to get those [other] guys [in the band] out is like pulling teeth… They're not fans, they're not sports guys. I mean, Nikki [Sixx, MÖTLEY CRÜE bassist] is a little bit of a sports fan, but that's about it."