$750M in Tax Dollars OK’ed for ‘Las Vegas Raiders’ Stadium

A deal to build a new domed stadium to entice the Oakland Raiders to move to Las Vegas is only one step away from final approval.

A Nevada oversight committee has approved the investment of $750 million in tax funding for a new stadium to be built in Las Vegas, CBS Sports reports.

According to news sources, the Southern Nevada Tourism Infrastructure Committee (SNTIC) voted “unanimously” on September 15 to approve the expenditure in the hopes that the Raiders will change their home base from California to Vegas.

“This is an exciting and momentous day,” said Andy Abboud, senior vice president of government relations and community development for Las Vegas Sands, according to the Las Vegas Sun. “(We) look forward to having similar discussions with the 63 members of the Legislature.”

The vote does not mean that the Raiders have fully committed to moving to Vegas, but it is another step on that road and also makes Vegas the most likely recipient of the team’s favors. The new stadium is also set to house the University of Nevada-Las Vegas (UNLV) football team.

But that isn’t the only recent news that points to the Raiders heading to Vegas. In August, the team submitted a trademark application for the name “Las Vegas Raiders.”

The Las Vegas Sun further notes that the next step in this process is for the SNTIC to send its recommendation for the hefty tax bill to Nevada Governor Brian Sandoval. The governor, in turn, will put the expenditure of $1.9 billion in public money to a vote of the legislature.

The final bill for the stadium is now estimated at $1.9 billion, but sponsors expect a whopping $1.4 billion to be supplied from taxes of one kind or another. That would make this stadium the most expensive tax hit for a stadium deal in U.S. history.

Ongoing expenses would supposedly be paid for by “about $35 million per year in taxes generated.”

Still, even as politicians and bureaucrats move forward on the stadium deal, a majority of Las Vegas voters oppose the tax expenditure.

Follow Warner Todd Huston on Twitter @warnerthuston or email the author at igcolonel@hotmail.com.