Other arenas in the works
With three giant entertainment arenas proposed for or under construction in Las Vegas, the push continues to bring a major league sports franchise to Las Vegas.
Las Vegas Mayor Carolyn Goodman supports a campaign to bring Major League Soccer to a stadium that would be built in Symphony Park in Downtown Vegas. For years the Cordish Companies have been lobbying to bring a stadium to the city; the Baltimore-based developer is working with Justin Findlay of Findlay Sports & Entertainment to build the venue. So far the project has been held up by financing issues; the partners want the city to kick in some of the funds, but city officials and the public have balked at picking up some of the freight.
The newest proposal would package the soccer venue with four possible park projects and a parking garage, reported the Las Vegas Review-Journal. City Manager Betsy Fretwell said the private developers would bear most of the financial risk, but the city would still borrow $46 million to $50 million to underwrite part of the cost. City Councilman Bob Beers scoffed at the plan, calling it “a slightly different shade of lipstick on a bigger pig.
“The debt to build the stadium is worse because it is no longer purchasing an asset—we’re borrowing it to just give the developers,” Beers told the Review-Journal.
Las Vegas is competing against Sacramento, California and Minneapolis for the last Major League Soccer expansion team, the newspaper reported.
Meanwhile, MGM Resorts International and AEG are collaborating on a $375 million, 20,000-seat arena on the Vegas Strip. AEG already owns franchises in Major League Soccer and the National Hockey League, and the company’s clout could have an influence on where new sports teams end up. It also won’t hurt that the Maloof family, former owner of the NBA Sacramento Kings, is pursuing an NHL expansion team at the MGM-AEG arena. The Maloofs once owned the NBA Houston Rockets and have connections to NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman.
Finally, former UNLV hoops star Jackie Robinson is now building a $690 million arena next to SLS Las Vegas on the Strip’s north end. Robinson wants to establish a National Basketball Association team to play at the arena, which would seat 22,000.
