The groundbreaking for former NBAer Jackie Robinson’s $1.4B All Net Arena and Resort on the Strip yesterday "fueled talk" that the NBA "will have a team in Las Vegas one day," according to Alan Snel of the LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL. Former NBAer Spencer Haywood said, "It’s like the ‘Field of Dreams.’ Build it, and the NBA will come." There were "about 350 people" in attendance at the ceremony for the $690M, 22,000-seat retractable-roof arena and 500-room nongaming hotel "next to SLS Las Vegas on the Strip’s north end." Former NBAers Reggie Theus, Sidney Green and Gus Williams "joined the All Net Arena and Resort construction team at the 27-acre former Wet 'n' Wild water park site." Basketball HOFer Jerry Tarkanian, who coached at UNLV, was also "among the guests." Robinson's project is "the second arena on the Strip to stage a groundbreaking in less than six months." MGM Resorts Int'l and AEG "broke ground May 1" for a $375M, 20,000-seat venue behind the New York-New York Hotel and Casino. Both arenas "are being privately financed." Robinson is also "looking to line up 600 foreign investors" to raise $300M "under the federal 'EB-5 visa' program." MGM-AEG "hopes to open its arena" in spring '16, while Robinson "projects an early 2017 opening." Robinson "still has work to do," as he "must reach a development agreement with Clark County, which could happen by March 1" (LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL, 10/30).
