By Alan Snel of LVSportsBiz.com
Twenty years ago I sat across a table from a lobbyist for the Washington Redskins and asked him how do NFL teams receive so much free money from local and state governments and public agencies to build their football stadiums.
I’ll never forget his three-word answer.
“Because they can.”
And that, public policy buffs, is all you need to know about why NFL teams receive free public money to build their palatial sports palaces.
Which brings us to the Las Vegas market, which wanted an NFL team so badly that the Nevada Legislature approved a record $750 million NFL stadium construction subsidy for the Oakland Raiders in 2016 so that the NFL team could build a $2 billion stadium project in Las Vegas. The stadium construction budget is $1.4 billion, which means more than half of the actual venue construction is being paid with public money.
The Las Vegas market — the Sheldon Adelsons, Rossi Ralenkotters, Steve Hills — went after the sexiest NFL team available. And when you land a hot team, you have to play by its rules.
Las Vegas sports boosters and elected government officials like former Clark County Commission Chairman/current Nevada Gov. Steve Sisolak were bedazzled by the NFL planting a flag not too far from the Strip. It’s a dynamic I have personally observed and reported on several times over across the country — cities and markets thirsting to be perceived as “major league” opening the public vaults to hand over free money to team owners who play in a league that generates a stunning $15 billion a year in revenue.
It’s time to be real. The NFL teams don’t play by the same rules when it comes to local government. Bear witness to the Raiders getting the go-ahead from Clark County to build a 65,000-seat stadium with 3,000 on-site parking spaces. The NFL team is only 13,000 parking spaces shy of complying with county parking standards. The Raiders say they have satellite parking sites and will shuttle fans over to the stadium, while also insisting there will be space for tailgating.
Technically speaking, the public is represented by a nine-member panel chaired by Steve Hill, a former concrete company owner who now is chief of the Las Vegas tourism agency, the Las Vegas Convention & Visitors Authority (LVCVA). Typically, these public stadium boards nationwide are composed of mostly local Chamber of Commerce types and sports boosters. Not exactly public watchdogs.
Back in the good ol’ days of the Las Vegas stadium board, way back on Dec. 14, 2017, Raiders President Marc Badain credited then county commission chairman Sisolak with giving the negotiations between the Raiders and UNLV “a kick in the ass” to move the talks forward for an eventual joint-use agreement outlining the terms under which the UNLV football team would use the stadium. At the time, Sisolak posted this photo of former UNLV President Len Jessup and Badain, the Raiders prez, to celebrate the Raiders-UNLV bond.
A month later later in January 2018, the Nevada Board of Regents sealed the deal for UNLV to be a tenant at the Raiders stadium.
The $2 billion stadium project, truth be told, was not built for UNLV football. It was built to house the Raiders, which run the venue, dole out the management contracts and will collect all the revenue from their games and charge stadium use fees to event promoters with Los Angeles-based AEG helping the NFL team line up programming for the venue. The stadium board might technically own the domed joint, but it’s the Raiders to operate. UNLV will pay the Raiders the costs of using the stadium for Rebels football games.
And the Raiders are not keen on the 2020 UNLV football schedule, which has a second home game at Raiders stadium on Sept. 5 (Louisiana Tech) and a third home game on Sept. 12 (Arizona State) before the Raiders even play their inaugural regular season game in the domed Taj Mahal. They’d prefer those two games be played at UNLV’s long-time football venue, Sam Boyd Stadium. Interestingly enough, Sam Boyd Stadium will host a few events in 2020 like a monster truck rally and motocross race, but under state law it’s supposed to cease operations during the first fiscal year that the Raiders stadium is open. The Raiders say the stadium is on schedule to be completed July 31, 2020.
The Raiders are not discussing this UNLV football schedule matter publicly. But it’s no secret that the Raiders want major programming for this stadium to deliver major revenue. And you would think Labor Day Weekend could be a big event weekend at the stadium. The only problem is the UNLV-Louisiana Tech Saturday game is scheduled during Labor Day Weekend in 2020 — not exactly an event that would draw 60,000 tourists or fans to Allegiant Stadium.
LVSportsBiz.com missed phone calls Wednesday from the stadium board’s all-purpose consultant, Jeremy Aguero, the Las Vegas-based lawyer and economist who has guided the public panel through the process of working with the Raiders on the stadium. We were hoping to learn from Aguero how the stadium board will mediate the Raiders-UNLV football game schedule dust-up. We also contacted UNLV Athletic Director Desiree Reed-Francois through a visit to her office at Thomas & Mack Center and via email, but did not hear back Wednesday.
UNLV has already sold season ticket packages to fans who were under the impression that all home games would be played at the Raiders’ Allegiant Stadium. If the two September UNLV games are moved to Sam Boyd Stadium in 2020, it’s unclear what impact that would have on the fans’ ticket packages.
The arrival of the Raiders and the stadium opening in 2020 will change a lot in Las Vegas. The Raiders will be Las Vegas’ new 800-pound gorilla, with the NFL’s popularity growing, too, with increased TV ratings.
The Raiders run the stadium and have all the leverage. UNLV is trying to fill a job opening for a new football coach. They might have to re-open their old football stadium to play there in September 2020 if the Raiders have their way, too.
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