LVSportsBiz Analysis: Thirsting For Big League Sports, City of Las Vegas Extends Negotiations With Downtown Soccer Stadium Developer
By Alan Snel of LVSportsBiz.com
The brand of Las Vegas is getting lots of free publicity these days thanks to the soon-to-be-here Las Vegas Raiders of the National Football League and the sports kings of Sin City — the Vegas Golden Knights of the National Hockey League.
The city of Las Vegas — the actual city limits of Las Vegas within the greater metro area — not so much.
The Golden Knights play at T-Mobile Arena, which is just off the Strip in Clark County. The same will be true for the NFL Raiders, which are building a $2 billion domed stadium project with $750 million in public dollars in Clark County — a few miles outside the city of Las Vegas. In fact, the Raiders are building their “Las Vegas” metro headquarters in the city of Henderson near The M hotel-casino and Henderson airport.
Even Minor League Baseball’s palace of ball yards — the Las Vegas Aviators’ sparkling $150 million ballpark — is just outside the city limits. It’s technically in Downtown Summerlin in Clark County.
The city of Las Vegas has been shut out on the major league sports team front, which does not please Mayor Goodman Incorporated of Oscar and Carolyn.
The city does play host to the Las Vegas Lights of the United Soccer League and Mayor Carolyn Goodman wants soccer so much in the city of Las Vegas that she has adopted Lights owner Brett Lashbrook (only joking folks, but she does love Brett like a son). But the Lights play in the USL — the Triple A minor leagues of soccer in the United States.
The problem for the city of Las Vegas is that Major League Soccer , which is expanding to 30 clubs, has already named its 29th city and a single expansion market opening remains. And MLS has already floated the idea of Charlotte, North Carolina as that final potential expansion city.
Citing Charlotte is MLS Commissioner Don Garber’s way of goosing Las Vegas to see if this market really wants to enter the MLS expansion sweepstakes.
Garber is sitting in the catbird’s seat. He has all the leverage because not only does the city of Las Vegas want an MLS team but Golden Knights owner Bill Foley is also exploring the possibility of pursuing an MLS team.
It’s a questionable pursuit because people are still wondering whether this market can support a Major League Soccer franchise in an already competitive sports team market that includes UNLV basketball drawing meager crowds to Thomas & Mack Center. In 2020, the Raiders will join the very popular Golden Knights in this market, while the Las Vegas Lights has not drawn well from the suburbs where the metro population is growing.
But earlier this year, along came Floyd Kephart from California with a rather audacious proposal to negotiate with the city of Las Vegas about a redevelopment idea that would require some kind of public-private partnership to build a new 25,000-fan soccer stadium, purchase the Lights with hopes of moving them to MLS and add other uses in the Cashman Center downtown area.
The Renaissance Companies Chairman Kephart and Candice Rauter, Renaissance managing partner, said the redevelopment plan would cover a mile-long corridor along Las Vegas Boulevard from Stewart Avenue to Washington Avenue, a segment that includes the US 95 highway overpass/entrance and exit ramps and the Cashman Center site.
Kephart’s concept transcends just the proposed 25,000-seat soccer stadium. He outlined plans for a broad vision that would include uses such as concussion research center and esports facility.
The stadium proposal calls for the Lights to continue playing at Cashman while the new soccer venue is being built.
Kephart was the public face of the redevelopment proposal at an early June City Council meeting when the Las Vegas City Council voted to start a 180-day exclusive negotiating period between the city and Kephart’s Renaissance Companies.
The money behind the entire project is Renaissance partner The Baupost Group, headlined by billionaire hedge fund manager Seth Klarman. Under the redevelopment proposal, The Baupost Group would buy the Lights if the city of Las Vegas and Renaissance can reach an agreement after the negotiating period ends. That negotiation period has been extended from December to February.
The exclusive six-month negotiating period was set to expire in early December, but the city of Las Vegas didn’t tell the public that the talks were extended to February. I’m told by city spokesman Jace Radke that city council members were informed by city government staff that the negotiating period were extended from December to February.
LVSportsBiz.com has requested the city provide any written comments or emails regarding this talks extension.
*
Follow LVSportsBiz.com on Twitter and Instagram. Like LVSportsBiz.com on Facebook.
