LAS VEGAS (KRON) — If the Oakland Raiders play their cards right, Raider Nation can bet on calling Las Vegas home, according to the city’s mayor.
Mayor Carolyn Goodman told Andy Katz and Rick Klein of ESPN Radio’s “Capital Games” Tuesday that Raiders owner Mark Davis wasn’t bluffing when he told the Southern Nevada Tourism Infrastructure Committee he wanted to move to Sin City.
“They will come if Nevada can go ahead and do this properly,” Goodman said. The Nevada legislature would still have to approve a hotel-room tax proposal to help raise $750 million for the $1.3 billion stadium project.
Goodman also said she’s not concerned about speculation that Davis is using the Las Vegas proposal to gain an advantage in his team’s bid to get a better deal from the City of Oakland.
“Mark Davis has assured us Las Vegas is not getting played in a Raiders stadium deal,” Goodman said. “I know we will have a team.”Click here to listen to Goodman on the podcast
In a meeting with the committee in late April, met with the Southern Nevada Tourism Infrastructure Committee to discuss a $1.3 billion stadium project. Davis pledged $500 million towards construction of a 65,000-seat domed stadium near the city’s main strip.
“It’ll be a lifetime commitment,” Davis told the committee when he was asked about his long-term plans in the city.
“When my father passed away, to continue his legacy with this football team, the number one thing is to find a stadium, find a home,” Davis said, “and that’s what I’m looking to do.”
Davis, who had been mulling multiple options to move his team since being passed over by the NFL’s other owners to relocate the Raiders to Los Angeles, has toured UNLV’s Sam Boyd Stadium as a potential temporary home. The Raiders have a one-year lease for the 2016 season at Oakland Alameda Coliseum.
The proposal would also need 24 approval votes from NFL’s 32 owners.
The project would see $150 million contribution from a partnership between Las Vegas Sands. The Raiders would pitch in $500 million — the NFL would loan the team $200 million — and the taxpayers would pay $750 million.
Money isn’t the only hurdle the project is facing, the NFL isn’t too keen on placing a franchise in the betting capital or the world. A few years ago, the league banned the city’s tourism agency from running ads during the Super Bowl.
But Goodman’s consider fielding an NFL team in her city a longshot.
“I’m hopeful they will come,” Goodman said. “It’s an exciting time for Las Vegas.”