By Alan Snel
LVSportsBiz.com
The Raiders have hired Los Angeles-based AEG to run their $1.37 billion domed stadium (the overall stadium project is nearly $1.9 billion), and the company that owns, manages and consults with sports and entertainment venues worldwide is confident Allegiant Stadium will host at least 46 events a year.
Skeptics doubt the Raiders home stadium that is scheduled to be completed July 31, 2020 will actually stage 46 events.
Let’s do the math. The Raiders will have eight regular season games and two preseason games — so subtract 10 events from 46 and it’s down to 36.
UNLV’s football team will have another six games a year.
Down to 30. The Las Vegas Bowl adds another event. And Las Vegas-based UFC, the MMA fight show promoter and producer, says it will stage an annual event.
So, we’re at 28.
Let’s transfer Sam Boyd’s five dates for monster truck and supercross motorcycle races and it’s now 23 dates at Allegiant Stadium.
The Rugby Sevens international tournament held at Sam Boyd Stadium in early March for three dates this year has moved to Los Angeles.
I would expect a few concerts such as the Rolling Stones, which have played stadiums like the Rose Bowl and the Denver Broncos’ venue last week, to make stops at the Raiders’ new Las Vegas home.
So three concerts a year reduces the number to 20. Maybe a big international soccer game and a wrestling entertainment event a year would take the number of annual events into the teens.
Undoubtedly, there will be a Super Bowl and perhaps an NCAA college basketball Final Four. But those are one-off deals and would not be annual events.
The Raiders are receiving $750 million in public money — more than half of the stadium’s construction costs. Stadium advocates support the concept of publicly subsidizing the construction costs because they argue tourism dollars related to the new stadium will justify the nation’s biggest NFL stadium public subsidy.
We shall see if the venue will attract 46 home dates. Even with 46 events, the stadium will sit silent more than 300 days a year.
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