By ALAN SNEL
The Raiders plan to break out the shovels and have a groundbreaking at its stadium site on Nov. 13.
Not many details are available for the groundbreaking. In fact, a source who received an invitation believed it was 1 p.m. but it could be changed to 10 a.m.
The Raiders hope to have the $1.8 billion domed, 65,000-seat stadium project finished by mid-2020 so that the team can move straight from Oakland into the palatial new venue on the west side of Interstate 15 at Russell Road and Polaris Avenue in Las Vegas. The Raiders are not interested in playing in Las Vegas at Sam Boyd Stadium before the new stadium is finished in 2020.
Nevada is giving the Raiders $750 million — a record stadium public subsidy in the U.S. — toward the stadium project. The Las Vegas stadium authority will pay $1.2 billion over 30 years for bonds issued next year so that Nevada can give $750 million to the Raiders. The money is coming from a Strip corridor hotel room fee increase.
The Raiders are also building a $100 million training center in metro Las Vegas.
“It will be great. I have 500 to 600 hardhats ready to go,” said Tommy White, a Las Vegas stadium board member and a leader of local laborers union 872. “There will be a lot of energy behind the groundbreaking. We have our (Raiders painted) trucks ready to go.”
Contact LVSportsBiz.com founder/writer Alan Snel at asnel@LVSportsBiz.com