Dive Brief:
- The Las Vegas Stadium Authority has unveiled a preliminary timeline for construction of the new 65,000-seat, $1.9 billion Raiders stadium that could have the facility ready in time for the 2020 NFL season, according to CBS Las Vegas.
- The authority's draft indicates that construction will begin in January 2018 and finish in June 2020, three months before the Raiders' first official home game.
- To be able to meet the authority's 30-month plan, according to the Las Vegas Review-Journal, the project must clear a tight, nine-month schedule of hurdles, such as Clark County and Nevada Department of Transportation impact and environmental reviews. The LVSA is set to discuss proposal specifics at its next meeting Thursday.
Dive Insight:
NDOT officials have said their plans to improve infrastructure around the stadium won't be affected by the news, as they already plan to finish agency work around the facility around the same time that the stadium is scheduled to open. In October, the NDOT said that it would have to re-prioritize $900 million of projects to meet the needs of the stadium, but said shifting around those funds wouldn't cost the state any additional money.
The project must also undergo a Federal Aviation Administration review similar to that of the new Los Angeles Rams stadium in Inglewood, CA. That study took one year and, as a result, the Rams had to purchase a $29 million radar system to compensate for the structure's height.
The Raiders' stadium completion schedule is an ambitious one. Of the seven newest NFL stadiums, only the San Francisco 49ers' Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara, CA, and the Philadelphia Eagles' Lincoln Financial Field were finished within a similar 30-month timeframe, and neither of those had a dome like the Raiders venue.
Earlier this month, the Raiders announced that they had purchased a 62-acre stadium property near the Mandalay Bay resort for $775 million. The LVSA Authority will own the new stadium, and the team will lease it for $1 a year. As part of the deal, the LVSA will finance a portion of stadium construction with $750 million in hotel taxes. A combination of Raiders financing and a $650 million loan from Bank of America will help pay for the rest.
