Could proposed $1B domed stadium lure Raiders to Las Vegas?
Raiders owner Mark Davis is planning to meet with a Las Vegas exec on Friday to “possibly discuss stadium details,” according to a report.
Could Sin City be the NFL’s next destination?
The “Las Vegas Raiders” were trending on Twitter on Thursday after a casino giant announced a proposal that could lure the NFL to town.
Las Vegas Sands Corp. is leading a group of investors who are proposing to construct a $1 billion domed stadium on 42 acres, the Las Vegas Review Journal reported. The proposal says that the stadium would sit on land near the University of Nevada, Las Vegas and would serve as the school’s football stadium. It even could be tantalizing enough to attract one of the NFL’s 32 franchises.
Here’s why the Raiders would be a good fit for Vegas – ‘The Herd
Oakland Raiders owner Mark Davis is planning to meet with Las Vegas Sands Chairman and CEO Sheldon Adelson on Friday, “possibly to discuss stadium details,” company officials announced.
The Raiders attempted to move to Los Angeles earlier this month, but were tentatively rejected by the NFL.
“We are moving forward with the stadium concept with or without an NFL team,” Las Vegas Sands executive Andy Abboud said Thursday. “We see a lot more opportunities —?? conference championships, bowl games, NFL exhibition football, boxing, soccer, neutral site games, and music festivals. There is an entire segment out there.”
NFL commissioner Roger Goodell said at last year’s State of the League that he hasn’t had any dialogue with officials in Las Vegas about how that could happen successfully.
This stadium proposal could be a big component in the NFL’s consideration of Las Vegas as one of its next home towns.
Sands spokesman Ron Reese said the casino company envisions a public-private partnership to build a 65,000-seat stadium that could be shared by a professional team and UNLV. The Sands likely would partner with other investors and might seek to draw on public revenue sources, such as hotel room tax revenue earmarked for promoting tourism.
The Raiders have no lease for a stadium for next season after NFL owners earlier this month shot down their plans to move to the Los Angeles area. The team is negotiating a short-term extension with officials in Oakland and Alameda County but also is looking for a permanent new home to replace the outdated Coliseum.
Nevada Gov. Brian Sandoval commissioned a tourism infrastructure committee to screen ideas to attract more visitors and “nothing will move that needle like a new world-class stadium,” Reese said in a statement about the development, which was first reported by Nevada political journalist Jon Ralston.