Las Vegas Mayor Carolyn Goodman yesterday sounded confident that the Raiders could relocate to the city "if Nevada handles this properly." Appearing on ESPN.com's "Capital Games" podcast, Goodman said Raiders Owner Mark Davis has assured city officials they are "not getting played" in a prospective stadium deal. The Raiders have pledged $500M to a stadium, while the Las Vegas Sands Corp. and Majestic Realty would give $150M to the project. That leaves around $750M to come from taxpayer money, and Goodman said, “As in most cities, there’s always pushback by the public to use public funding." She said the city is in the process of investigating the “different alternatives and ways for funding." Goodman did note the city is "getting calls from elsewhere, outside of California and Nevada, of those who might be interested in putting some more private money into the pot.” Goodman: “I have just referred them back to Mark Davis because I don’t think that’s our role, that’s the role of the private sector. But we certainly are ready enough … and my hope is for most of the things we do, it’s tourist income that we use to fund.” She said she initially thought the Chargers might be a better candidate to relocate to Las Vegas. However, she said Davis has “assured us all in a private conversation" he is "very much in earnest putting up” his own money for a stadium ("Capital Games," ESPN.com, 5/10).
WHERE THERE'S SMOKE....: The Daily Beast's John L. Smith said the talk of the Raiders relocating to Las Vegas is the "first time that this ... has had some credibility to it, some legitimacy." Smith: "It’s been a lot more of a carrot issue in years past." ESPN.com's Paul Gutierrez said the issue is "no longer just a flirtation" between the Raiders and the city, as it has become a "full-blown romance.” Gutierrez: “Mark Davis understands that a lot of people are going to look at this as a potential leverage play. But it can't really be a leverage play if there is no other money in the Bay Area to close that budget gap whereas there is at least the potential in Las Vegas." Gutierrez noted the $750M funding gap “is a huge number," but the Raiders believe that can be overcome "through a tourism tax, through a hotel tax." Clark County (NV) Commissioner Steve Sisolak said the local community is "extremely excited about the potential of getting the Raiders here." However, he noted stadium funding remains a big issue, as the $750M coming from public money "doesn't fly when you’re talking about the private equity partners getting all of the concession revenue, all of the parking, all of the naming rights, all of the suites." Sisolak: "There would be no return for the taxpayer. That would be, in my opinion, too big of a gamble for the taxpayer” ("OTL," ESPN, 5/10).
