12
Reno
sPoRtsdoMe
Reno, nv
by Michael Horn
s
ince 2012, Kanish ali has owned the Reno
Sportsdome in Nevada. His business partner,
owen Blake, convinced him to go into the sports facility
business when they realized there were no suitable
places to play in the city.
Kanish lives 1600 miles and two time zones away in
Texas.
It's an arrangement that doesn't seem like it should
work, but it has worked so well that they're working on
a second facility.
"I met Kanish when I was in college at Southern
Methodist University in Dallas," says Owen. "He used
to come by and take my roommate and me up to go
play amateur soccer during the summer with his team.
He coached the team called Legends."
When Owen stopped playing, he and Kanish went into
the construction business together, founding Legends
Roofing, named for the team.
Soon, Owen met his future wife and eventually
decided to move to Reno. He sold his share in the
company to Kanish.
In Reno, Owen noticed that there were not a
lot of places to play soccer, and the existing
facilities didn't meet his expectations. He decided
he could do better, but he needed a business
partner.
"My first thought was I've got to get Kanish involved.
He's very honest and a good entrepreneur. I got on the
phone and said, 'I think we can do this.'"
Once he got Kanish onboard with the plan, they began
searching for a building. "We searched for a year and
a half until we found the right building that had a clear
