NFL Oakland Raiders team owner Mark Davis says the public will have to pitch in 0 million if Las Vegas is to build an NFL stadium and host the Raiders.
Davis initially pledged up to $550 million in funding toward building a stadium with a retractable roof in Las Vegas and where the University of Nevada-Las Vegas would play its home football games, among other events.
Davis has scaled back his pledge by more than $100 million. He now says the Raiders would chip in $100 million, the NFL $200 million, and seat licensing fees another $110 million, for a total pledged contribution of about $410 million.
That leave about $1 billion remaining, give or take a couple hundred million, to build the stadium and a practice facility, but does not include the cost of land acquisition.
Of that amount Las Vegas Sands and Majestic Realty now would contribute $220 million, and Davis says another $750 million in public funding would be necessary to cover the rest of the estimated stadium construction cost.
To raise that money, an early proposal would raise the hotel room tax by about $1 per night, but critics say that money would be better spent on public education and other local needs.
Another obstacle is the Southern Nevada Tourism Infrastructure Committee, which has spent the past year reviewing tourism infrastructure needs in Southern Nevada and is scheduled to make recommendations to the Nevada Legislature this summer.
Replacing the aging Sam Boyd Stadium, which is located several miles east of the Las Vegas Strip and is several decades old, is expected to be among the ad-hoc committee’s recommendations, but it might not.
The Las Vegas Convention Center also is undergoing a $2.3 billion improvement, and Las Vegas Sands Chairman Sheldon Adelson recently suggested building a stadium on the former Riviera casino property would be ideal.
Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority President and CEO Rossi Ralenkotter suggested that plan might work if it included exhibition space for the convention center’s expansion.
The Riviera’s two hotel towers are slated for demolition this summer, with one coming down at 2 a.m. in June 14, and the other later in August. Contractors have been removing asbestos-laden materials by hand and plans to take down each hotel tower in separate implosions.
Another proposal suggests building the stadium on a 42-acre parcel on East Tropicana Avenue across from McCarran International Airport, and which UNLV recently bought.
An initial study suggest a stadium is feasible on that site, but it would have height and use restrictions along its western boundary, due to its proximity to an airport runway.
Critics say that site is too close to the airport and would cause traffic problems.
Another proposal is for a site on East Sahara Avenue at the Las Vegas and Clark County border.
Davis said the Raiders and others are conducting local polling to gauge potential support for building the proposed 65,000-seat stadium, location preferences, and using public money to help pay for it.
Even if funding is worked out and a site selected, for the Raiders to move to Las Vegas, the team needs the approval of 24 of the NFL’s 32 team owners.
It also needs to know soon, in order to begin planning for an eventual exit from Oakland, where the team is contracted to play this year and has two one-year options afterward.
An obvious obstacle to NFL approval is Las Vegas and its legal gaming industry. The NFL traditionally has avoided Las Vegas and its gambling industry, and a Texas lawsuit indicates the league continues having reservations about doing business in Las Vegas.
Legal Sports Report says the non-profit Strikes for Kids seeks $100,000 from the NFL, after the league forced it to move a charity event that was scheduled at a bowling alley inside the Sunset Station Casino in Las Vegas.
The NFL had 25 players scheduled to attend, but the league told Strikes for Kids it would not allow the players to attend if the charity did not move the event.
The NFL bans players from participating in promotional events at casinos and sports books and won’t allow them to participate in events affiliated with gaming activities.
The NFL allowed its players to participate after Strikes for Kids moved the event to the Brooklyn Bowl, despite it being located in Caesars Entertainments’ The Linq development on the Las Vegas Strip.
