Las Vegas Sands pushes for $1B domed UNLV stadium, possible Raiders deal

Dive Brief:

Global casino giant Las Vegas Sands Corp. is leading the effort to build a $1-billion, domed stadium near the University of Nevada, Las Vegas to serve as the school’s football stadium, host major events or possibly house a future NFL franchise, according to the Las Vegas Review-Journal.
Touted as a move to boost tourism, the project would be performed under a public-private partnership on the UNLV-owned, 42-acre site, according to Las Vegas Sands officials, who also are in preliminary talks with the Oakland Raiders about a possible move for the team. Project developers say they may also seek state legislative approval for public financing via hotel room tax revenue.
In 2013, the Nevada legislature scuttled plans for an $800-million, 60,000-seat stadium and a remodeled basketball arena at UNLV, the Review-Journal reported. And UNLV officials have said moving a professional football team to Las Vegas could be a challenge, as the NFL may have issues with the environment of betting and legalized gambling.

Dive Insight:

Hotel tax revenue currently supports the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority, and officials said they are "anxious" to hear the stadium proposal but have doubts about using hotel taxes to finance the project.

Regardless of the source of financing, potential investors in the project see an opportunity to boost tourism. "We are moving forward with the stadium concept with or without an NFL team," Andy Abboud, Las Vegas Sands' senior vice president of government relations and community development, told the Review-Journal. "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."

Given the amount of tourism dollars that pour into Las Vegas every year, potential investors in a new stadium have reason to believe they would see a payoff with or without an NFL franchise, unlike the city of St. Louis, which made a losing bet on recent plans for a new stadium for the Rams.

The city of St. Louis, as well as the state of Missouri, spent considerable time and money preparing the design and financing package for a new $1.1 billion stadium, which failed to keep Rams owner Stan Kroenke from making his successful bid to move the team to Los Angeles.

In January, the NFL rejected the Raiders' bid to move to Los Angeles, and instead approved a stadium built by the Rams owner and shared with the Chargers.