The University of Nevada, Las Vegas has scored a major win on revenue-sharing at the new $1.8 billion domed stadium it with share with the NFL Raiders.
A joint-use agreement concluded with the pro football franchise after months of negotiations in which UNLV retained powerhouse New York sports law firm Herrick to represent it, allows the school to sell as many as 70 percent of the anticipated 100 luxury suites for its six annual home games at the stadium. The university would keep money from those sales as well as club level and non-premium seat revenues.
The amount of rent the university will pay for use of the venue will be determined on an annual basis and will consist only of actual operational costs of using the 65,000-seat facility.
Senate Bill 1, the state legislation approved in October 2016 that provided $750 million in taxpayer funds to build the stadium, required the Raiders to share the facility with UNLV’s football team as a condition of receiving the money.
In all, the agreement is a considerable improvement for the school over terms the Raiders originally offered that would have granted the Raiders the exclusive right to sell luxury suites and club seating for UNLV Rebel games as part of larger packages including Raiders games and other major events. For these sales, UNLV would have received only an amount equal to the average per-ticket price for club seats at a Rebels game for the number of tickets issued inside the suites.
The agreement also calls for the Raiders to buy the Rebels their own artificial turf field and maintain and repair it at their expense. The Raiders will play on their own natural-grass surface that will roll in and out of the stadium on a tray, similar to the field at University of Phoenix Stadium in Arizona.
In another notable departure from the original terms, UNLV will keep control of its parking. The joint-use agreement explicitly states that “no portion of UNLV’s property will be used by (the Raiders) for parking for Raiders’ home games or other stadium events.” It also allows UNLV the right to use and maintain revenue from the stadium’s 2,375 on-site parking spaces.
The Raiders initially asked to use nearly 80 acres of university land for game-day and event parking, including the Thomas & Mack Center lot and a 42-acre parcel near Tropicana Avenue and Koval Lane slated for mixed-use development.
Parking is a troublesome issue at his point for the Raiders. Clark County’s initial project approval in September gave the team a year to produce a plan for the 13,875 of 16,250 parking spaces required by county code that cannot be accommodated within the stadium’s 62-acre footprint on Russell Road just west of the Las Vegas Strip.
It’s already been agreed that the team will bear the cost of constructing bridges and/or underpasses to move pedestrians from the Strip to the stadium without interrupting traffic flow. But until a parking plan exists no one knows where the flyovers or tunnels need to be constructed.
The parking plan is due to the county in September. The Raiders must then submit a pedestrian study based on that document by November. The stadium is scheduled to open in time for the start of the Raiders’ 2020 season.
But there has been a bit of good news for the team.
The city of Henderson plans to sell the Raiders a 55-acre parcel for $6 million, or half of its appraised value, for the team to build a practice facility and its future headquarters.
A resolution brought before City Council last week described the vacant property, located near the Henderson Municipal Airport, as “an ideal location for the headquarters” and one that “will bring significant notoriety and economic investment to the city”.
The resolution states that the team estimates its total investment in the site will approximate $50 million, including construction costs, and that the headquarters will provide 250 full-time jobs.
