By ALAN SNEL
LVSportsBiz.com
When Las Vegas stadium board members get around to green lighting a final stadium development deal with the Raiders, local residents and fans alike will find out a fascinating number: The final price for the Raiders’ fix-domed, 65,000-seat football stadium.
The stadium board and the team have used a $1.9 billion estimate for the stadium on the west side of Interstate 15 across the highway from Mandalay Bay, but $100 million will be used for the Raiders’ new training center. So, the stadium cost is estimated at $1.8 billion.
But the “guaranteed maximum price” for the stadium construction project will not be ready Thursday when the stadium authority panel meets at the Clark County government center 9 a.m., said Jeremy Aguero, the consultant helping guide the Las Vegas Stadium Authority through the stadium approvals process.
“The stadium authority is approving all of the documents ‘in form.’ The ‘guaranteed maximum price’ will be forthcoming and the authority will have the opportunity to review and comment all of the budget documents before final approval (currently scheduled for the first week in April),” Aguero wrote in an email to LVSportsBiz.com Tuesday.
Approving documents “in form” is not final approval. Aguero explained, “We anticipate additional comments from the NFL, the lender(s), and the county. They will be considered for final approval after comments are received, considered and, where appropriate, integrated.”
It will be interesting to see what the final stadium cost will be because the public is on the hook for giving $750 million to the Raiders for the new stadium that is expected to open in mid-October 2020. The Raiders will play two more years in Oakland.
The lower the final stadium cost, the higher the public’s percentage share of the price tag for the palatial venue.
As a point of comparison, the Minnesota Vikings’ new fixed-dome stadium, which earlier this month hosted the Super Bowl, was $1.13 billion. The Atlanta Falcons’ new retractable-roof stadium was $1.5 billion. And the new Los Angeles Rams’ stadium being built is pegged at $2.6 billion.
The Nevada state law that created the Raiders stadium deal and $750 million subsidy says the Raiders will pay for costs north of $1.9 billion.
Mortenson Construction Company, the Minneapolis-based company that built the Vikings stadium and many other sports venues, will determine the guaranteed maximum price for the Raiders. That price will be integrated into the final development agreement between the NFL team and the local stadium authority board Thursday.
To pay for the stadium project, are the Raiders receiving $750 million from the state/stadium authority, $200 million from the NFL, $250 million in personal seat license revenues and $600 million in a Bank of America loan. The Raiders are paying $100 million for the training center in Henderson for a grand total of $1.9 billion.
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Speaking of costs, while the public has been told they are giving $750 million to the Raiders for their stadium (the biggest public stadium subsidy in U.S. history), the stadium authority board will actually have to generate about $1.1 billion over 30 years to cover the debt service when Clark County sells the bonds for the stadium authority in the spring. Approved by state lawmakers in 2016, a hotel room tax of 88 cents on every room in southern Nevada is being charged to pay the public stadium subsidy.
The stadium has collected about $40.5 million in hotel room tax money since March 2017 and it could be up to about $50 million by the time the stadium bonds are sold. So, that will shave the money needed to borrow down to about $700 million.
Another topical issue will be the stadium’s lack of parking spaces on the 62-acre site off Russell Road and along Polaris Avenue. The county requires more than 16,000 spaces on the site, but the Raiders said there’s only 3,000 plus at the location.
The Raiders have been eyeing Bali Hai Golf Club on the east side of Interstate 15 and are expected to discuss the parking crunch Thursday.
The Raiders and Las Vegas stadium board would like to approve a final stadium development deal before the NFL annual owners meeting in Orlando, Florida March 25-28.
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