Oakland Raiders executives have told the NFL that Goldman Sachs is committed to financing the team’s proposed domed stadium in Las Vegas with or without a buy-in from Las Vegas Sands boss Sheldon Adelson, who conceived of the project.
The Raiders made the statement and filed the required papers in a presentation to the NFL’s stadium and finance committees, which are advising the league on whether to approve the team’s desired move to Las Vegas from the California city.
“The team’s presentation highlighted its research that the Las Vegas market can support the team, that bringing the NFL to the market aligns with the league’s strategic goals, and that Goldman Sachs is committed to financing the project with or without a third party,” said Jeremy Aguero of Las Vegas-based Applied Analysis, which has been contracted as consultants to the new Las Vegas Stadium Authority.
The Raiders and Adelson, chairman and CEO of Las Vegas Sands, are the private partners behind the planned $1.9 billion, 65,000-seat stadium. Funding is slated to come from $750 million raised from Clark County hotel room tax revenue, supplemented with $650 million from the Adelson family and $500 million from the Raiders and the NFL.
It’s since been reported that talks between the Raiders and the Adelson group have hit unspecified snags. As Aguero said the team told the committees: “There is no deal in place yet with the Adelson family and the team is pursuing approval with no third-party involvement. However, if an accord with the Adelson family is reached later, the team would bring that back for league approval.”
Sands executive Andy Abboud said the talks are ongoing. “It’s a complicated negotiation and there are a lot of different details involved that we need to resolve.”
Tom Blanda, senior vice president of stadium development and operations for the Raiders, said he was optimistic the issues would be resolved within a month.
“Right now, negotiations are proceeding, and we’ll see if we come to an agreement with the Sands (Adelson) family. I’m not really sure who else we’ll talk to,” he said.
The Raiders, eager to leave Oakland for a city that will build them a stadium, had the option of relocating to Los Angeles, but that possibility appears to have been closed off following recent news that the San Diego Chargers will relocate to the city to occupy a new stadium under construction in the suburb of Inglewood.
