Raiders Prez Badain Says County Commish Sisolak Gave LV Stadium Process a ‘Kick in the Ass’
By ALAN SNEL
Clark County Commissioner Steve Sisolak gave the Raiders stadium process a “kick in the ass,” according to Raiders President Marc Badain, and voila, a lovefest between the Raiders and the Las Vegas Stadium Authority board broke out at a stadium board meeting Thursday afternoon.
There was “extensive progress” between the Raiders and UNLV on a use agreement for the Rebels football team to play at the 65,000-seat domed venue and stadium board members were pleased with the Raiders’ community benefit plan that outlines targeted groups to hire for stadium construction jobs and job training programs.
Badain credited Sisolak for giving the process a “kick in the ass” to get the Raiders and UNLV reps in a room to create a use deal. They met last week, Badain said.
“He saw some stagnation,” Badain said after Thursday afternoon’s 75-minute meeting at UNLV’s Foundation Building. “He’s not shy.”
Badain, in his own words:
Sisolak, who is running for the Democratic nod for governor and has been very public in his support for the Raiders and the publicly-subsidized stadium, even snapped a photo of Badain and UNLV President Len Jessup at the meeting.
The UNLV use deal has to go before the Nevada Board of Regents and if it’s approved, the proposed agreement goes before the stadium board in early 2018. The stadium at Russell Road and Polaris Avenue on the west side of I-15 is scheduled to open in 2020. UNLV will close Sam Boyd Stadium seven miles from campus after the Rebels start playing at the new stadium two miles from campus in 2020.
Sisolak told LVSportsBiz.com that he got the Raiders and UNLV in the same room and now their stadium use deal is “moving ahead.”
The contentious community benefits plan issue won the approval of stadium board member Ken Evans, the board member and Urban Chamber of Commerce president who has been outspoken about making sure the Raiders hire workers and companies that represent diversity and inclusion.
“It’s one thing to have a target. It’s another thing to have the steps and the clauses (in the community benefits plan) to drive the outreach,” Evans told LVSportsBiz.com after the meeting.
The stadium board wants a community benefits plan oversight committee to make sure the Raiders comply with its community benefits plan. The stadium board does not have to approve the benefits plan, but the board can hold up approving the development agreement with the Raiders if board members are unhappy with the community plan.
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