Billionaire casino mogul Sheldon Adelson is scheduled to meet Friday with Oakland Raiders owner Mark Davis about a possible move of the football team to Las Vegas.
Adelson, the chairman of Las Vegas Sands Corp. and one of the world’s richest men, wants to build a $1 billion stadium in Las Vegas that would be home to University of Nevada sporting events, concerts and possibly a professional football team, according to his spokesman Ron Reese.
The stadium proposal is part of a broader call for ideas to promote travel in the state by Governor Brian Sandoval’s Southern Nevada Tourism Infrastructure Committee. The committee is expected to submit a report to the governor at the end of July. A National Football League stadium would bring more visitors to the city, filling its hotels and casinos, Reese said.
Davis, who inherited the team from his father Al in 2011, was rebuffed this month by the league’s owners in his attempt to move the Raiders back to the Los Angeles area. The franchise doesn’t have a lease for a home stadium for the 2016 season.
Adelson’s plan would put a 65,000-seat domed stadium on 42 acres of land north of McCarran International Airport and east of the city’s famous Strip. UNLV’s football team plays in the smaller Sam Boyd Stadium in Whitney, Nevada, further east of the Strip.
The new stadium could be financed with a combination of public and private money, Reese said. It could include Adelson’s personal money as well as financing secured by hotel taxes, he said. Sands and the university are working with Majestic Realty Co.’s Ed Roski, who had previously sought an NFL team for land he owns east of Los Angeles.
Brian McCarthy, a spokesman for the NFL, declined to comment. The location of NFL franchises must be approved by team owners on a three-quarters vote. The league doesn’t have a policy against locating franchises in any specific locations, nor does it have a ban on particular cities like Las Vegas.
Spokespeople for the Oakland Raiders didn’t return calls seeking comment.