The long "Raiders to Vegas?" story, continuing

zn wrote:

there is growing sentiment within the NFL that fellow owners are opening up to Las Vegas and granting Davis his wish to move there should he request it.

I keep hearing that, that the league would approve it.

NFL in Las Vegas is a lead-pipe lock, with or without Raiders

Vinnie Iyer

http://www.sportingnews.com/nfl/news/nfl-las-vegas-raiders-relocation-mark-davis-david-beckham-robert-kraft/60bq2usocgmw1bsw4tvz8jrxq

The NFL no longer can hide its cards — it’s ready to go all in on Las Vegas.

The quickest draw to get there is relocating the Raiders from Oakland, and team owner Mark Davis has $500 million ready to make it happen.

First, the possibility of that happening wasn’t ruled out by Roger Goodell. Then the commissioner expressed how the league is “evolving” in its stance in being more associated with legalized gambling.

Then came the Vegas endorsement of the Cowboys’ Jerry Jones, arguably the league’s most powerful owner. It went to another level Friday when another NFL heavyweight billionaire, the Patriots’ Robert Kraft, gave his blessing to the Raiders, via USA Today.

“I think it would be good for the NFL,” Kraft said. “I know Mark Davis has tried so hard in Oakland. If they won’t do it … I want to support him.”

Vegas and its mayor, Carolyn Goodman, are waiting with open arms. It has taken a long time for the NFL power players to open their minds. As Goodell said in April and Jones earlier this month, Kraft echoed the sentiment that the so-called risks associated with Vegas no longer outweigh the entertainment reward.

In NFL-owner speak, that means everyone who counts has realized that Vegas, like Los Angeles for the Rams, is bigger money in the bank. Now that weekly fantasy football has blurred the lines of gambling on NFL games, that’s no longer a hurdle in profiting from a team in Sin City.

It means the pitch Davis made to the Southern Nevada Tourism Infrastructure Committee in late April, offering to spend half a billion to help build a $1.6 billion, 64,000-seat stadium on the Las Vegas Strip, has a lot more legs. It already had some when more photogenic soccer superstar David Beckham joined Davis in pitching that the stadium would also bring a Major League Soccer team to Las Vegas.

“To bring a great organization like the Raiders is incredible, but it’s bigger than that,” said Beckham, who also has business ties to the stadium-backing Sands Corporation.

The NFL is realizing how big it could be in its next stage of westward re-expansion. It’s no longer just a way for Davis to create better leverage against Oakland. Jones and Kraft wield great influence on the other owners, and along with Goodell, they can work to get 24 of the 32 needed to approve the Raiders’ move.

While the Raiders are becoming a stronger bet for Vegas, it’s clear that the league has thought a lot more about expanding its reach there with any team. It’s the No. 40 television market and growing, ahead of current NFL cities Green Bay, Buffalo, New Orleans and Jacksonville. It’s not too far behind Cincinnati, Kansas City, Nashville and San Diego.

Unlike all those cities, Las Vegas opens the NFL to new revenue streams. It’s the hub for two things hugely responsible for the league’s booming popularity: fantasy football and gambling. It’s a great place to give the Pro Bowl needed pizzazz and make the draft an even more marquee event. Imagine what Super Bowl week would be like, never having to leave The Strip. As MLS and the NHL also look to plant pro teams in Vegas, the NFL should be extra motivated to jump in and dominate another sports market.

London and Mexico City still have their appeals, too, but they work better as satellite sites for NFL teams. Vegas, with L.A., would form a much better 1-2 punch than going overseas and south of the border. It keeps the NFL right in the heart of the action that’s made it so profitable.

The NFL doesn’t need to pretend it’s a moral authority on anything anymore, least of which is its fans betting on its games. Whether it’s out of need or greed, Vegas will be part of the league soon.[

Southern Nevada committee to work on funding $1.4 billion stadium

By RICHARD N. VELOTTA
LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL

http://www.reviewjournal.com/business/stadium/southern-nevada-committee-work-funding-14-billion-stadium

When the 11-member Southern Nevada Tourism Infrastructure Committee begins
work Thursday on how to pay for a $1.4 billion, 65,000-seat domed stadium,
it will try to piece together a funding strategy that will keep everyone
happy with their return on investment.

Don’t count on that being an easy task.

And don’t count on the stadium being a done deal.

Some critics of the stadium proposal already have made their position perfectly
clear — don’t contribute a single dime of taxpayer money toward a project that’s
bound to generate profits for developer Las Vegas Sands Corp. and the Oakland
— or is it Las Vegas? — Raiders.

The pro-stadium side is equally passionate. An indoor football stadium is a
genuine need that can boost Southern Nevada’s tourism economy, they say. Southern
Nevada is missing out on many entertainment acts and athletic events because
of the lack of a large venue.

A new stadium also would solve a longtime problem that has vexed the University
of Nevada, Las Vegas: the lack of a stadium close to campus that would boost
student support and advance the prominence of an athletic program with major-
conference ambitions.

Attracting the Raiders to Las Vegas, in the eyes of supporters, would be icing
on the cake. The venue can be a success without an NFL tenant, stadium backers
say. But it sure would be nice for Las Vegas to join that elite club of cities
that have a team in the nation’s most popular team sports league.

Steve Hill, director of the Governor’s Office of Economic Development and
chairman of the committee tasked with forwarding recommendations on tourism
infrastructure improvements to Gov. Brian Sandoval, said the financing package
is so complex that he expects at least two more meetings after Thursday’s session
to complete it.

OPTION CALLS FOR 54-46 SPLIT

When Las Vegas Sands and Majestic Realty rolled out plans to build a stadium on
42 acres just east of the MGM Grand at Tropicana Avenue and Koval Lane, they
hired Conventions, Sports & Leisure International of Plano, Texas, to guide the
committee through possible financing options.

Bill Rhoda, president of CSL, has presented details of those options and has
shown how stadium developers in other cities have financed their projects.

CSL has worked on 31 professional football stadiums since its founding in 1988,
including the new homes of the NFL’s San Francisco 49ers and Minnesota Vikings.
Closer to Las Vegas, the company also worked on Aces Ballpark, the minor league
baseball stadium in downtown Reno.

On the table in Las Vegas is a public-private partnership calling for $750
million from the public and $650 million from the private sector, or a
54 percent-46 percent split.

From the private partners would come a $500 million contribution from the
Raiders — $300 million of that in the form of a loan from the NFL — and $150
million from casino operator Las Vegas Sands and Majestic. The exact sources of
the $750 million in public money remains unsettled. That’s where much of the
detail work remains.

The key question: Is the deal fair to all parties?

Rhoda identified 46 annual events at the stadium if the NFL is in the mix.
They include 10 home NFL football dates (two preseason and eight regular-season
NFL games), six UNLV football dates, two college football bowl games (including
the current Las Vegas Bowl), two neutral-site college football games, two soccer
events, four rugby events, three motorsports events and one top-draw boxing
or mixed martial arts event.

Hill said the number of events staged will drive the economics.

“Do we think we can get to 46? What we’ll probably do is carve 10 events out and
see what that looks like and then carve another 10 out and see what that looks
like,” he said. “We have to stress-test the model, maybe take it from 46 to 20
or somewhere in between and get a range of potential outcomes.”

Guessing right on the number of events the stadium could hold is critical to
determining return on investment and whether the amount of money plowed into
the facility would be worth it to taxpayers, who stand to see less money available
for schools, roads, parks and other projects tax revenues currently support.

But the upside would be more money for those needs and projects if the stadium
does what proponents say it will.

ANSWERS NEEDED BY JULY 31

CSL estimated an average turnstile attendance of 40,000 at those 46 events,
resulting in an estimated 1.8 million visitors and 845,000 new hotel room nights.

The CSL report noted that spending by visitors at events consists of in-stadium
spending on tickets, concessions, merchandise and parking, as well as out-of-
stadium spending on lodging, food and beverage, shopping, entertainment,
transportation, gaming and other services. The report estimates per-capita
out-of-stadium spending by overnight visitors at $642 per person per day, and
65 percent of out-of-stadium visitor spending is considered “net new” — it
would not be spent without the presence of the stadium.

When the committee meets Thursday, it will dig into four pages of detailed
questions the group wants answered before buying into public stadium support.
Among them: Is the UNLV site an appropriate location? What portion, if any, of
the cost should be paid by the public? What happens if stadium revenues fall
short? Is it reasonable to expect 46 events per year?

The committee is working toward a July 31 deadline to make its recommendations.
A $1.4 billion Las Vegas Convention Center expansion project and several transit
proposals are also under consideration.

“I think wrapping something up (on the stadium) before July is not possible,”
Hill said. “I’ve even asked the committee to reserve a date between the June
and July meetings to continue to work on it.”

In addition to determining whether the existing tax structure pencils out as a
wise return on investment, the committee probably will look at whether the
Legislature should be asked to increase tax rates on existing services. Committee
members already have indicated they have little appetite for bumping up taxes
that would directly affect local residents, especially because locals would
pay more through the live entertainment tax if a stadium is built.

WHERE DOES BURDEN FALL?

In theory, generating tax revenue through hotel room and rental car rates shifts
most of the burden to visitors, though residents occasionally rent vehicles or
land in resorts for “staycations.” But for entertainment events, there is no
chance for locals to dodge the live entertainment tax currently imposed.

County hotel room and car rental tax revenue is expected to climb, as would
their corresponding state revenue: sales taxes, gaming taxes (officials anticipate
sports fans would tend to gamble) and the state modified business tax, since new
employees would be hired if the stadium is built and an NFL team were to relocate
here.

There appears to be room to increase the room tax. Between the state and the
county, the hotel room tax is at about 12 percent, just under Orlando’s 12.5
percent rate and Phoenix’s 12.57 percent. And it’s well below New York’s 14.75
percent rate, Dallas’ 15 percent, Chicago’s 16.39 percent and Houston’s 17 percent.

Committee members also could ask the Legislature to form a tax-increment
district. The boundaries of a special tourism taxing district would be open to
debate. Would it include only the stadium site’s 42 acres or would it include
property around it? And if so, how far from the stadium would the district extend
to grab revenues from businesses that would benefit from proximity to the stadium?

The CSL report suggested a TID to last 65 years and feed a stadium authority, which
would operate much like the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority, to build
and manage the facility.

The committee will also look at how new stadiums have been funded. They include:
* U.S. Bank Stadium, which this year will open as the home to the NFL’s Minnesota
Vikings. About 45 percent of the 68,500-seat stadium’s $1.1 billion budget is
being covered by taxpayers, with Minneapolis residents seeing a half-percentage-
point increase in the sales tax and as much as a 3 percentage-point boost in
taxes on liquor, lodging and restaurants through 2046. The state also authorized
a tax exemption on construction materials for the stadium, which is also exempt
from property taxes.

* Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, where the public is contributing only 16
percent of the cost of the $1.5 billion, 71,000-seat home of the Atlanta Falcons,
to open in 2017. The Georgia General Assembly in 2010 approved the extension of
a 7 percent tax on motel and hotel rooms through 2050 contingent on 39.3 percent
of the revenue being used to build the stadium.

* Levi’s Stadium, home to the San Francisco 49ers and host of February’s Super
Bowl 50, cost $1.3 billion to build and seats 68,500. Only 1 percent of the cost
was publicly financed. The city of Santa Clara, California, contributed $11
million. Prepayment of luxury boxes supporting a Goldman Sachs-led loan from
17 lenders covered most of the bill.

Examining those projects and others may generate new ideas, but the core issue
in Las Vegas is whether the stadium plan is fair and whether the public will
share the benefits if the stadium is a roaring success.

“This should be a business conversation, an economic conversation,” Hill said.
:So far, what we’ve talked about is more conceptual than getting into real
detail — what’s the projected return on investment from the private side and
what’s the economic benefit to the community for the public side and how to
determine the definition of ‘fair’ and, separately, ‘smart?’ “

“I think what you’ll find is that if we get 40 to 50 events, the stadium becomes
pretty lucrative for everybody involved. We have to ask the question about the
potential for the public to share in the upside. Early on, they (developers)
said no, but that needs to be aired because the truth is that if it’s very
successful, the return on investment will be very high. It would help to buy
down the public investment.”

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Tim Leiweke’s NFL connections help Las Vegas’ case for a team

By MATT YOUMANS
LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL

http://www.reviewjournal.com/sports/nfl-vegas/tim-leiweke-s-nfl-connections-help-las-vegas-case-team

Everything unfolded in slow motion in Los Angeles, so Tim Leiweke is ready to
punch the fast-forward button.

“I spent almost 10 years chasing the NFL in L.A.,” he said. “This is a guy who
got beat up for 10 years.”

Leiweke laughed and called it “shocking” how quickly Las Vegas could land an
NFL franchise.

In just a few months, with Leiweke in the middle of the action, the Raiders’
potential relocation from Oakland to Las Vegas has moved from an entertainment
topic to serious business. If a stadium is built and the whirlwind plan becomes
reality, Leiweke will play an integral role.

Much of his career has been about making arena and stadium deals. The former
CEO of Anschutz Entertainment Group, Leiweke led the Staples Center project
in Los Angeles before striking a deal with MGM Resorts International to construct
T-Mobile Arena on the Strip. He also had a brief run as president of Maple Leaf
Sports and Entertainment in Toronto before resigning.

Leiweke, now the CEO of Oak View Group, an L.A.-based entertainment advisory,
development and investment company, adds credibility and influential connections
to the Las Vegas stadium drive, which will be discussed at 8 a.m. Thursday by
the Southern Nevada Tourism Infrastructure Committee at UNLV’s Stan Fulton Building.

A proposed $1.4 billion, 65,000-seat stadium near the Strip would be funded
through a public-private partnership including the Raiders, Majestic Realty and
Las Vegas Sands Corp., which is using Leiweke as a consultant to help lead the
campaign.

“There is such a huge need in the marketplace for a stadium. It’s the one thing
that city’s missing,” Leiweke said. “It’s easily justifiable. We’ve got to get a
deal that makes sense to everybody.

“The deal can get done. It’s all sitting right there. It’s shocking.”

How well-connected is Leiweke? His younger brother, Tod, was named chief operating
officer of the NFL in July.

Tim Leiweke also has years of experience working with NFL commissioner Roger
Goodell and Eric Grubman, the league’s executive vice president of business
operations. Grubman, who was intricately involved in the Rams’ relocation from
St. Louis to Los Angeles early this year, is closely monitoring the situation
with the Raiders and Las Vegas.

It’s fair to assume Tim Leiweke’s connections could help Las Vegas gain favor
in the NFL’s front office.

“It’s not just one relationship, and not just a blood relationship,” Tim Leiweke
said. “I have a very good relationship with Eric, with Roger and with a lot of
the owners. The NFL is more aligned with this than you would think.”

Leiweke’s company played a role in a major venue announcement this week. Las
Vegas Sands and The Madison Square Garden Co. are partnering with Azoff MSG
Entertainment, Live Nation Entertainment Inc. and Leiweke’s Oak View Group to
build a 17,500-seat off-Strip venue designed for live music performances.

As we navigate this whole stadium issue and the NFL, Tim’s input has been
insightful. He’s a real value add,”said Rob Goldstein, president and chief
operating officer of Las Vegas Sands. “He’s a straight shooter, and he doesn’t
say things he doesn’t back up. We think there’s a real chance this is going
to happen.”

Las Vegas’ sudden emergence as a potential NFL city is not a mirage in the
desert. It was one of the biggest topics of the NFL Spring Meeting on Tuesday,
when team owners and league executives gathered in Charlotte, North Carolina,
to discuss future Super Bowl sites, rules changes and the future of the Raiders.

Tim Leiweke’s focus is on the financing strategy for a stadium in Las Vegas.
He called Thursday’s meeting of the tourism infrastructure committee “critical”
in terms of advancing the project.

The current proposal calls for $750 million from the public and $650 million
from private sources. The Raiders would contribute $500 million, including a
$300 million loan from the NFL, with Las Vegas Sands/Majestic Realty adding
$150 million. The revenue sources for the $750 million public contribution must
be decided by the Nevada Legislature.

“My guess is this gets closer to a 50-50 partnership when it’s all said and
done,” said Leiweke, adding “there is room” in Las Vegas’ hotel tax rate of
around 12 percent to draw more tax money from tourists.

“I think there’s a fairly reasonable concept on how to fund it, and it doesn’t
cost the people of Las Vegas any additional money,” said Leiweke, who is
assisting retired soccer star David Beckham in a plan to build a stadium
in Miami. It’s not increasing taxes on the people who live there.

“The only way it doesn’t happen is if people turn down the deal for whatever
reason, and I don’t see that happening. There is real momentum for this.”

Leiweke said he estimates the Las Vegas stadium could host “50 to 60, maybe
more” events per year, including eight regular-season games and two preseason
games for the Raiders. It also would be the new home for UNLV football.

“I’ve been doing this a long time, and I’m actually really optimistic,”
Leiweke said. “I am pleasantly surprised. I think things are coming together.
There is a real opportunity here.”