By Alan Snel of LVSportsBiz.com
Marc Badain said there was some good news about the Raiders stadium’s first-ever 65,000-fan, 100 percent capacity event Saturday evening, while also acknowledging there are some things the stadium will need to improve.
Badain, the Las Vegas Raiders president who shepherded the stadium project from conception to opening a year ago, was pleased that Garth Brooks fans were in their seats and the cars bound for the concert event Saturday evening were off the highway when the Brooks concert began.
But Badain recognized that things need to be improved regarding traffic and parking on the streets around the domed stadium that is scheduled to have more big events in August like an international soccer match, a Raiders preseason game, WWE’s SummerSlam and a Guns N’ Roses concert.
Badain said the team will be discussing changes with police and county staffers to alleviate the traffic issues that faced the tens of thousands of Garth fans who left the massive stadium built on the west side of Interstate 15 after Saturday’s concert ended. Many posted their complaints on social media, including stadium attendees who posted photos of the large groups of people walking on closed Hacienda Avenue from the stadium to the Strip.
And one such post here: “It is impossible to get out of the stadium itself.”
Badain outlined a parking plan about a month ago, noting that 22,000 of 65,000 fans were expected to walk on Hacienda Avenue from the Strip to the stadium for Raiders games.
But there were problems with rideshare Saturday as many Garth fans did not know where the uber and lyft spots were. Some fans suggested better signage on the streets for rideshare locations.
Other Garth fans who attended the concert Saturday said the Raiders need to build more shade structures outside the stadium and increase the number of parking attendants and officers on the local streets to direct traffic and tell people where to park.
“It’s definitely a work in progress,” Clark County Commissioner Tick Segerblom told LVSportsBiz.com Wednesday. It “will never be perfect, but Las Vegas knows how to make things work. The good news is that enough people can walk to the stadium from their hotel rooms to fill the stadium – now we just need to figure out how to take care of locals.”
Many stadiums and sports venues in major markets are served by public transportation, which drops off patrons close to the facility. But the closet RTC bus to the stadium for events is the “Deuce” bus that moves along the Strip, which is on the east side of the interstate about a 20-minute walk to the stadium.
A special RTC bus takes fans from the suburbs to Vegas Golden Knights games at T-Mobile Arena on the Strip, but no such bus currently serves Allegiant Stadium for events.
Keep in mind, the Clark County Commission approved the Raiders stadium plan (technically, a land use permit) even though the stadium site had room for only 2,000-2,500 on-site parking spaces even though the county code requires about 16,000. The commissioners knew the Raiders’ site plan lacked the required number of parking spaces when they approved it in early September 2017 — about two months before the Raiders staged the stadium groundbreaking.
Remember who the county commission was at the time in 2017? Ultra Raiders stadium supporter Steve Sisolak, the current governor.
The Raiders charge $100 a space for on-site parking. People who pre-bought the $100 parking space for the Garth Brooks concert reported on social media it was a good investment. Multiply 2,000 spaces by $100 and the Raiders make $200,000 in parking revenues per event.
LVSportsBiz.com asked Segerblom, who was not on the county commission when it approved the Raiders stadium parking plan, if he attended the Garth concert.
Segerblom responded: “Ha, I’m waiting until they get the traffic situation under control.”
LVSPORTSBIZ.COM: We are a daily digital magazine providing market-leading news, intelligence, enterprise and breaking info on Las Vegas’ sports and stadium industry. Our stories are linked and quoted nationally and we set the sportsbiz news agenda locally here in Las Vegas.