In a bid to lure the restless Oakland Raiders in, Sheldon Adelson, chairman and CEO of the Las Vegas Sands Corporation, is pressing ahead for a $1.4billion domed stadium plan. In partnership with California billionaire Ed Moski’s Majestic Realty, the deal includes real estate owned by the University of Nevada Las Vegas (UNLV), and $750million of hotel room tax revenue; which critics insist is Adelson’s way of undercutting his rivals at the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority (LVCVA). 

Late in April, the Southern Nevada Tourism Infrastructure Committee met to hear the details of Mark Davis’s plan to move the Oakland Raiders from Oakland, and also got enthusiastic support for the project from international soccer star David Beckham and Las Vegas Mayor Carolyn Goodman.

The stadium deal recently added the public support of casino billionaire Steve Wynn, who helped Adelson to craft the idea over three years ago. While Wynn didn’t admit to be willing to invest in the deal, he commented, “Well, Sheldon and I are both very strong supporters of it, and how it plays out is something we’ve got to see… the one thing that Las Vegas should have in its arsenal that’s missing is a great stadium and an NFL team.”

For years, the Raiders have been frustrated in their attempts to see a new stadium built in Oakland. While Las Vegas tourists would be largely responsible for paying the room tax dollars used to build the stadium, the Raiders’ end of the deal would go towards constructing its near-Strip headquarters, practice facility, locker rooms as well as an income-generating Hall of Fame.

Steve Sisolak, Clark County Commissioner, has been one of the few skeptical public officials of the stadium plan. Despite the fact that he’s “a huge sports fan” and is aware that there is a lot of support from local Raider fans, he adds: “I don’t think the stadium is viable without an NFL team.”

Sisolak is evidently looking for a discussion, at least, of revenue sharing and a better deal for a community still recovering from recession. “If the public is going to put up half the money, I don’t think it’s fair to say the team gets the concessions, parking, naming rights and so on,” he said. “That’s not a very good deal for the taxpayer… I understand why football fans want a stadium at any cost. I want the Raiders, but I don’t want the stadium at any cost.”]