Story by Alan Snel Photos by Hugh Byrne
LAS VEGAS, Nevada — They moved into action very quickly Saturday.
Moments after UNLV defeated Cal, 39-31, Allegiant Stadium conversion workers began changing this domed stadium from a college football venue to a place that will host a National Football League game in less than 24 hours Sunday.
Conversion workers began taking out temporary bleachers immediately and they also worked on rolling up the artificial turf for the UNLV game to make way for the tray of natural grass that awaited outside to be placed inside the stadium via rollers.
The Raiders host division rival Kansas City Chiefs Sunday afternoon with both teams sporting 3-0 records.
The stadium construction budget was $1.4 billion — the major chunk of the $2 billion Raiders stadium project.
Southern Nevada contributed $750 million to help the Raiders build the 62,000-seat stadium, and will pay another $75 million as part of the Raiders’ $158 million north plaza project for a grand total of $825 million in public dollars.
The Raiders stadium opened in 2020, with owner Mark Davis’ Raiders receiving much of the stadium revenues.
The Raiders stadium with the rolling tray of grass that slides into the stadium is one of two such stadiums in the NFL. The other one is the Arizona Cardinals stadium in Glendale, Arizona in the metro Phoenix area.
Major League Baseball’s Athletics are also getting help from Southern Nevada and Clark County to help build their baseball stadium on the Strip at the old Tropicana hotel site. LVSportsBiz.com saw that stadium under construction Saturday:
The A’s $2.1 billion stadium is scheduled to open for the 2028 MLB season.
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