Steve Pastorino oral history interview, 2026 April 10

Oral history interview with Steve Pastorino conducted by Stefani Evans on April 10, 2026 for the Game On! The Oral History of Las Vegas Sports project. In this interview Pastorino talks about his childhood spent traveling the world with his family. His father, a member of the U.S. Foreign Service, was stationed in Venezuela, Mexico, Portugal, and Colombia. A fan of sports from a young age, Pastorino and his father bonded over baseball and soccer throughout their travels. After moving back to the United States, Pastorino attended Northwestern University with a focus on journalism. Wanting to pursue a career in sports, he had the opportunity to intern for the Palm Springs Angels baseball team. Pastorino also worked for various teams including the High Desert Mavericks minor league baseball team in Adelanto, California and Chicago Fire soccer team. After helping establish the Real Salt Lake soccer team, Pastorino was let go after the third season. Transitioning to the Oakland Athletics baseball team, Pastorino was let go from that role as well. An opportunity appeared to help set up the Las Vegas Lights soccer team, and Pastorino moved to Las Vegas, Nevada. Pastorino goes into detail on bringing the Las Vegas Lights team to success and growing the team from the ground up. Pastorino talks about how Zappos was a sponsor and remembers Tony Hsieh fondly. During the COVID-19 shutdown, Pastorino left the Las Vegas Lights to join a sports betting startup company. He adds his opinions on prediction markets and the benefits various sports teams have had on Las Vegas. The interview concludes with Pastorino discussing the price of World Cup tickets and how happy he is to be a sports fan without having to worry about the business side of things. Digital audio available; no transcript available.