Oakland Raiders administrators have stated the NFL that Goldman Sachs is dedicated to financing the team’s much anticipated domed arena in Las Vegas whether they have an investment from casino executive Sheldon Adelson, or not. This news update was discovered by the Las Vegas Stadium Authority board last Thursday.
Jeremy Aguero of Applied Analysis, gave an update on the Raiders’ relocation efforts after turning to team officials earlier in the day. The company is serving as staff to the authority. Aguero’s announcement to the authority board painted a comprehensive picture of what the NFL’s stadium and investment committees were told by the Raiders at a Wednesday meeting in New York.
“The team’s presentation highlighted its research that the Las Vegas market can support the team, that bringing the NFL to the market aligns with the league’s strategic goals and that Goldman Sachs is committed to financing the project with or without a third party,” Aguero stated.
He continued the announcement by saying that “the Raiders told the committees that there is no deal in place yet with the Adelson family and that the team is pursuing approval with no third-party involvement,” Aguero said. “However, if an accord with the Adelson family is reached later, the team would bring that back for league approval.”
The Raiders and Adelson, the chairman and CEO of Las Vegas Sands Corp., are the private partners behind a premeditated $1.9 billion, 65,000-seat domed football stadium. The plan presently calls for $750 million in Clark County hotel room tax revenue, $650 million from the Adelson family and $500 million from the Raiders and the
NFL to fund construction.
According to a spokesman for the Adelson family, Andy Abboud, who is Las Vegas Sands executive, claimed that talks are ongoing. This was confirmed durinig last Thursday’s meeting.
“It’s a complicated negotiation and there are a lot of different details involved that we need to resolve,” Abboud said.
“It’s really a matter of coming up with something that works for the family, the Raiders and the NFL,” he said. “Talks are ongoing.” Abboud said he wasn’t able to give specifics on what issues are in disagreement.
Furthermore, Aguero expressed to the board no proper action was taken by the NFL committees, “but it is our understanding that the Raiders organization continues to gain positive momentum relative to the process of relocation.”
“The Raiders discussed with the NFL the process for filing its application for relocation. The team received support on the Las Vegas project both inside the committee room and publicly with positive comments coming from some owners,” Aguero said.
Senior vice president of stadium development and operations for the Raiders, Tom Blanda, was present at Thursday’s authority board meeting and said he was optimistic the matter would be resolved within a month.
“Right now, negotiations are proceeding and we’ll see if we come to an agreement with the Sands [Adelson] family. I’m not really sure who else we’ll talk to,” he said.
Blanda did not address the board.
“The Sands [Adelson] family has been gracious and has sat and negotiated with us from the get-go on this,” Blanda said. “We’ll see how things resolve themselves.”
When questions where posed about the particular issues that were holding up an agreement, Blanda said he couldn’t divulge such details. “It’s a legal negotiation and I don’t step into that,” he said.
Stadium Authority board expands
Apart from other business ventures, Thursday’s assembly saw The Las Vegas Stadium Authority board being expanded by two members.
As anticipated, Lawrence Epstein, a senior executive with the UFC accountable for structuring its corporate head office, and Tito Tiberti, a construction executive who built the 8,500-seat Orleans Arena and several other Las Vegas buildings, were chosen to join the board.
Board Chairman Steve Hill, director of the Governor’s Office of Economic Development, said the speedy step at which discussions with the team are moving will necessitate the board to schedule meetings more frequently. According to Hill, the nine-member board has programmed its next meeting on 26th January. This is when it’s expected to choose legal guidance amid three proposals.
15-minute presentations were presented to the board, for deliberation to be made. The presentations were exhibited by Las Vegas firm Fennemore Craig, which has 200 lawyers in three states, the Las Vegas firm of Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck, and Robert C. Kim, who proposed working with Jay Lindgren, a partner with Minneapolis-based Dorsey & Whitney.
The Houston firm has worked on numerous stadium developments, including NRG stadium in Houston, the home of this year’s Super Bowl game, while the Minneapolis company worked on U.S. Bank Stadium, the new home of the Minnesota Vikings.
Hill and Aguero are likely to meet with the organisations and make an endorsement to the board on which one to select. Hill also proposed to the board that they could meet 23rd February and 23rd March, in addition to the regularly scheduled 9th February and 9th March meetings due to the speed at which the Raiders’ transfer plans are moving.
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