Cashman Field

Lore & Background

The modern Cashman Field opened in 1983 as the home of the relocated Spokane Indians, renamed the Las Vegas Stars of the Triple-A Pacific Coast League. Its first professional baseball game was an MLB exhibition on April 1, 1983, between the San Diego Padres and Seattle Mariners before 13,878 fans. The symmetrical field had dimensions of 328 feet down the lines, 433 feet to center, and 364 feet to the power alleys. The stadium's attendance record of 15,025 was set on April 3, 1993, for an exhibition between the Chicago White Sox and Chicago Cubs. Cashman Field hosted the 1990 Triple-A All-Star Game and the Triple-A World Series from 1998 to 2000. Its final professional baseball game occurred on September 3, 2018, when first baseman Pete Alonso hit a walk-off home run to give the 51s a 4–3 win over the Sacramento River Cats. The 51s moved to Las Vegas Ballpark in 2019.

Soccer arrived in 2018 with Las Vegas Lights FC, who played their first game on February 10, 2018, an exhibition against the Montreal Impact before 10,383 fans. The original configuration, with center field at a right angle and equal foul territory, was considered more suited for soccer than other former baseball parks. The Lights planned renovations after the Aviators baseball team terminated their lease in 2019, but the COVID-19 pandemic delayed work; as of May 2023, only fresh paint had been added. In 2024, a Premium Deck with suites was constructed on the eastern side. On August 13, 2026, the Lights confirmed they would vacate Cashman Field at the end of the 2026 USL Championship season.

American football returned briefly in 2023 when the XFL's Vegas Vipers played home games at Cashman Field. The playing field drew criticism for poor conditions, including dead grass patches painted green and tire tracks, worsened by a rare Las Vegas rainstorm. The Vipers did not return for 2024, as the league merged into the United Football League without retaining Las Vegas.

Reader's Guide

Cashman Field holds significance as a versatile sports venue that anchored professional baseball in Las Vegas for 36 years, hosting Triple-A teams that developed future Major League talent. Its role in the Pacific Coast League and as host of the Triple-A All-Star Game and Triple-A World Series marked it as a key minor-league facility. The stadium's transition to soccer with Las Vegas Lights FC reflects the city's evolving sports landscape, though the venue's aging infrastructure and limited renovations have drawn criticism. The brief tenure of the XFL's Vegas Vipers highlighted ongoing challenges with field quality. Beyond sports, Cashman Field served as a mass vaccination site in 2021 and hosted political rallies, including one by Barack Obama in 2008. Its legacy is tied to the Cashman family name and its place in downtown Las Vegas, bridging the city's minor-league past with its current soccer identity, while plans for the Lights' departure after 2026 signal another chapter in the stadium's history.

Did You Know?

• The original Cashman Field, built in 1947, hosted the first professional football game in Las Vegas in 1964, an AFL exhibition between the Oakland Raiders and Houston Oilers.
• The Oakland Athletics played six games at Cashman Field in 1996 due to renovations at the Oakland Coliseum.
• Cashman Field was used as one of the largest mass vaccination sites in the United States in 2021.
• During a 51s game on August 22, 2015, the stadium sewage system backed up, causing raw sewage to flow into the dugouts.