Casino mogul Adelson pulls out of Vegas deal

LAS VEGAS — Billionaire casino mogul Sheldon Adelson pulled out of a deal Monday to build a $1.9 billion domed stadium for the Oakland Raiders in Las Vegas.

The move comes on the heels of a team proposal to pay $1 a year in rent and operate the stadium, and it deprives the project of a chief financial backer as officials seek to bring professional football to Las Vegas for the first time.

Adelson played an instrumental role in the effort to lure the Raiders, which eventually grew into a $750 million commitment of taxpayer money to the deal.

He and his family had pledged $650 million — an amount the team will have to seek from other sources. The Raiders have promised $500 million.

Nevada Gov. Brian Sandoval’s office said the lease agreement submitted last week would have the Raiders shoulder $1.15 billion of the cost of the stadium, and accept operation responsibilities and risk.

In a statement, the Raiders acknowledged Adelson’s involvement in the project over the past year and promised to make good on owner Mark Davis’ vow to move to Las Vegas.

Adelson’s withdrawal means the Raiders will go forward with a decision pending from NFL owners who must approve the move.

It also means the team won’t have to ask team owners to

waive a rule prohibiting casino operators from having ownership roles in teams.

Team officials said previously they were enlisting investment bank Goldman Sachs for the project.

The lease proposal would have the Raiders operate the 65,000-seat stadium that would be built at a site yet to be decided, probably just off the Las Vegas Strip.

In Adelson’s terse statement, the chief executive of Las Vegas Sands Corp. declared that he had been shut out of talks that led to the lease document presented to the Clark County Stadium Authority.

“We were not only excluded from the proposed agreement,” Adelson said, “we weren’t even aware of its existence.”

Sands owns the Venetian and Palazzo resorts and a convention center on the Las Vegas Strip, and several casinos in the Chinese gambling enclave of Macau. Adelson is a big backer of Republican Party causes, and his family also owns the local newspaper, the Las Vegas Review-Journal.