With Joe Lombardo Unseating Gov. Steve Sisolak To Claim Nevada’s Top Job, Las Vegas Sports Market Loses Big Advocate; Will Lombardo Support Oakland Athletics Ballpark Subsidy?
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By Alan Snel, LVSportsBiz.com Publisher/Writer
With Republican Joe Lombardo defeating incumbent Democratic Gov. Steve Sisolak, the Las Vegas sports teams and industry lost one of its biggest backers and sports fans in the state’s highest office.
Sisolak was a strong proponent of Southern Nevada’s $750 million subsidy to help build the Raiders stadium just west of the Strip. Sisolak aired two TV commercials highlighting his support for the Raiders, Las Vegas Aces, Vegas Golden Knights and the Formula 1 Las Vegas Grand Prix set for November 2023. Even with the emphasis on sports growth in Las Vegas in his political spots, the sports theme was not enough to put Sisolak over the top.
Sisolak also was a good friend of Raiders owner Mark Davis and did not support any public money for any possible Oakland Athletics ballpark in Las Vegas. Davis and the Athletics were not friends when they shared the Coliseum stadium in Oakland.
Lombardo, who will transition from Clark County Sheriff to Nevada governor, has been mum about using public dollars to subsidize sports venues or sponsor sports events in Southern Nevada.
What’s his position about using public dollars to help build a baseball stadium for the Oakland Athletics in Las Vegas? He has not discussed the topic.
It should be noted that it was former Nevada Gov. Brian Sandoval, Sisolak’s predecessor, was the pivotal public elected official who triggered the Raiders stadium project by creating a Las Vegas tourism infrastructure panel that backed the construction of a stadium for the NFL team.
Governments using public dollars for sports venues that help private sports teams are non-partisan public policy debates and transcends traditional political party talking points. Some Republicans and some Democrats support using public subsidies for sports stadiums and arenas, while others in both parties oppose them.
Sandoval, a moderate Republican, has supported the $750 million public subsidy to help construct the Raiders’ domed, 62,500-seat stadium that will host the Indianapolis Colts Sunday. So did Sisolak, a moderate Democrat. As for Lombardo, we just don’t know his position.
On the MLB front, the Oakland Athletics are trying to work out a deal with the city of Oakland for a waterfront baseball venue in Oakland.
But if that deal falls through, will the state of Nevada, Clark County or Southern Nevada designate any public dollars to help underwrite the construction of a possible Athletics ballpark in Las Vegas?
Fans have seen Lombardo attend Vegas Golden Knights games, but it will be interesting to see if he sits courtside at Las Vegas Aces games like Sisolak did this past season at Michelob Ultra Arena in Mandalay Bay.
