Oakland Raiders Stadium Situation Remains in Limbo
By Brazy
It’s been an interesting couple weeks in the Oakland Raiders quest for a new stadium, but the situation is still as clear as mud.
There is plenty of fodder for the stadium situation of the Oakland Raiders, which has both intrigued and frustrated Raider Nation. From Sheldon Aldelson taking his Goldman Sachs and going home to Marc Badain saying there is tons of interest from deep pockets begging to fund the gap in Las Vegas, this story seems to never end.
The one constant has been the carrot of $750 million is public subsidizing to help build in the entertainment capital of the world.
Goodell confirms NFL doesn’t want any casino ties, not even in the stadium they play in
Rodger Goodell confirmed in his NFL State of the League address at the Super Bowl that they don’t want any casino money involved with their teams. Okay, fair enough, no Casino owners can own any part of a team. Which makes sense.
But the NFL is taking their stance to absurd levels. I mean, no Vegas commercials during the Super Bowl absurd. He’s saying they don’t even want Casino owners involved in the construction of a stadium one of their teams would play in. What? How does that make any damn sense?
Fortress Group: the company behind Ronnie Lott proposal gets purchased for $2.2 Billion
Little is known at this point how this sale affects the Ronnie Lott proposal. But one has to wonder, how was a group that is only valued at $2.2 Billion going to be a front for a multi-billion dollar development in the Bay Area?
In my opinion, the sale of Fortress to a Japanese tech company can only help Lott’s efforts to build in Oakland. Although, all the principal players of Fortress will remain in their current roles running the company.
Mystery banks are rumored to be able to fund Las Vegas
While the Raiders have been silent on any specifics, tweets emerged of two banks in place to fund the Vegas stadium. No word on if they are both going to fund it or two competing to be the sole funding source.
Owners meetings scheduled for March 26-29
The owners will meet in late March in Phoenix, but whether or not they will vote on the Raiders relocation is in doubt. This was believed to have been the target date for the Raiders to get a vote of approval on their filing for relocation that took place back in January, but that doesn’t seem likely to happen based on current events.
Funding is only thing lacking in Las Vegas situation
I have read articles at profootballtalk.com that say the Raiders still need someone who can build and run the stadium. Didn’t they have that ready to go when they filed for relocation with the Chargers for a Carson stadium? I would think they did, so I don’t see those things being an issue.
Las Vegas stadium financing expires in April 2018
The senate bill passed by the Nevada Legislature has a trigger in it, that says the $750M pledge, will expire 18 months after it passed, if a deal is not formalized.
This gives the Raiders time to solidify their funding and all other things necessary to placate the owners, in confirming their relocation application.
What happens next? Your guess is as good as mine.
It’s nice to speculate and guess, but no one really knows what’s next. I’m not even sure the Raiders do either. Perhaps the Raiders want to be in charge of the new stadium, not just a tenant.
You would think investing in a state of the art stadium that houses an NFL team and a D1 College program, in the Entertainment Capital of the World, sounds like a good idea. Especially when your investment is only 34% of the total cost of the project.
Next: Projecting Future Contract Extensions
With the proper revenue share, that return on investment can surely lure some non-casino money to the desert, right?
Oh yeah, this is clear as mud.