Mogul threatens Raiders deal
Casino owner says NFL team wants toomuch; may pull back his $650M
Casino mogul Sheldon Adelson this week offered a stinging statement to his partner in the stadium deal designed to bring the Raiders to Las Vegas: Improve your negotiation terms or it’s “bye-bye.”
In an exclusive interview with Reuters, the multibillionaire on Wednesday said he could take his $650 million and walk away from negotiations to build a $1.9 billion stadium for the team because of apparent friction in his negotiations with the Raiders. If Adelson makes good on his threat, a significant chunk of funding for the new stadium would be in jeopardy, leaving the Raiders to find another finance partner or look to move the team elsewhere.
“I negotiated to bring in the Oakland Raiders, an NFL football team from Oakland, because they don’t have a stadium there, that I would build a stadium and rent it out to the Oakland Raiders,” Adelson told Reuters at a travel technology conference in Tel Aviv.
He continued, “They want so much. So I told my people, ‘Tell them I could live with the deal, I could live without the deal. Here’s the way it’s gonna go down. If they don’t want it, bye-bye,’ ” he said.
Adelson did not specify in the interview what the Raiders were asking for, and an Adelson spokes- man did not respond to an email seeking comment.
When asked by this newspaper Thursday about Adelson’s comments, team owner Mark Davis said he had “no comment.”
“When there’s something to say, I’ll say it,” Davis said, “but there’s nothing to say right now.”
Of the estimated $1.9 billion needed to build the 65,000-seat, domed stadium, Adelson is offering $650 million, and $750 million would come from increased hotel tax revenues approved by Nevada lawmakers and signed by Gov. Brian Sandoval earlier this month. The rest would come from the Raiders and the NFL.
The apparent Las Vegas negotiation problems come amid news that money-management firm Fortress Investments of San Francisco has sent a proposed business agreement to Oakland and Alameda County officials to build a stadium in Oakland for the Raiders. The firm is possibly the money group for NFL Hall of Famer Ronnie Lott and former NFL quarterback Rodney Peete, who are leading an effort to keep the team in Oakland. The city has signed a letter of intent with Lott and Peete to work on a stadium deal at the Coliseum site.
Alameda County Supervisor Nate Miley, who confirmed that the term sheet was sent to officials, said this week, “I don’t think the taxpayers would feel comfortable with the terms.” He declined to elaborate.
However, Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf and other officials have consistently said a stadium built in Oakland would not receive any public funding. The county and Oakland are still paying off an estimated $95 million debt from renovations at the Coliseum when the Raiders returned in 1995.
If the Las Vegas deal is completed before NFL owners meet early next year, Oakland would find it harder to make its case to keep the team if it doesn’t have its own plan. A move to Las Vegas would require the approval of at least 24 of 31 NFL owners.
The Raiders don’t have an exclusive right to the Las Vegas stadium but so far are the only team with plans to move there.
In Las Vegas, the Raid- ers or any other NFL team has 18 months “to lock in a decision to meet the requirements of the state,” said Sandoval’s communications director, Mari N. St. Martin.
“Should that not happen, the stadium development rights are available to (the University of Nevada-Las Vegas),” St. Martin said in a statement.
“This entire, exciting possibility for Las Vegas came into play because of Sheldon Adelson’s and Mark Davis’ developed relationship,” Las Vegas Mayor Carolyn G. Goodman said. “If there are issues in how the private business partnership is moving along, these are entirely between them. From our perspective, we hope these matters will be resolved soon.”