By Alan Snel of LVSportsBiz.com
It’s two weeks and counting until the Las Vegas Raiders’ new stadium is supposed to be ready and on Saturday workers were seen finishing signs and striping parking spaces at the 62.5-acre site across I-15 from Mandalay Bay hotel-casino.
The public stadium board will have to dip into its $68 million of hotel room tax revenue reserves to cover a $19 million shortfall in the bond repayment debt service created by the closing of the state’s hotels and casinos in April and May for two months during the novel coronavirus pandemic in Nevada.
But even with hotel room tax revenues screeching to a halt in the spring, the 1,500 daily construction workers at the NFL team’s Allegiant Stadium kept on coming shift after shift to bring this $1.976 stadium project to a finish line scheduled for July 31. Workers in this photo below are installing a sign with Ford as one of the stadium sponsors.
COVID-19 cases in the Las Vegas area are spiking. Las Vegas was seen as a front-runner to be one of the two NHL hub host cities for the 24-team Stanley Cup tournament in August, but the coronavirus cases in the Vegas market were seen as a factor for the NHL to pick Edmonton over Las Vegas.
It’s also unclear when fans would be allowed to watch events in the 65,000-seat domed stadium. It’s a closed building, which makes the spread of the virus even more of a possibility than if it was an open-air stadium.
The Raiders were completing the big marquee board, which can be seen from motorists on the interstate.
The stadium also checked out the lighting on the venue this week. Photographer Tom Donoghue captured the sights.
Even before the Raiders play their first regular season home game in the stadium, there’s a Garth Brooks concert scheduled at the venue for Aug. 22 at 7 p.m.. The concert sold its 65,000 tickets in 75 minutes and the Garth Brooks event has not been cancelled or postponed — yet. Given that bars can’t even be open in Las Vegas and in counties across Nevada, it’s hard to believe 65,000 people will be allowed to cram into the indoor stadium in a month.
The NFL has already eliminated two preseason games.
This past week, former Raiders star Charles Woodson toured the stadium. Most of the interior is nearly done, too.
LVSportsBiz.com rode a bicycle around the stadium Saturday and noticed these were the only bike racks on site. We hope there is more.
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