A presentation on Thursday by consultants working with Las Vegas Sands Corp. and Majestic Realty on a planned 65,000-seat, $1.3B domed stadium "had a heavy emphasis on the potential of attracting" an NFL team, according to a front-page piece by Richard Velotta of the LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL. The presentation was made to a Las Vegas tourism committee, and speakers "spent more than three hours discussing and taking questions on the details of the plan and the economic impact of stadium projects in other cities." Majestic Realty Exec VP Craig Cavileer's team "estimates the venue would attract 26 new special events -- football games, concerts or shows." The current stadium proposal seeks $780M "in public financing while private investors would put up" $420M. A Las Vegas Sands-owned stadium close to the UNLV campus would "give the university a long-sought campus venue for Rebel football and become a key asset of the school’s athletic program." As for the NFL, Velotta notes Sands officials already have met with Raiders Owner Mark Davis, who has "expressed interest in moving his team to Las Vegas if the NFL allows it." Sands President & COO Rob Goldstein: "It’s short-sighted not to think that the NFL is a possibility. It’s not a done deal, but it’s at least possible" (LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL, 3/25). UNLV President Len Jessup said building a stadium would be a "game-changer" for the school. Jessup: "Where we want to go as a top-tier university involves not only improvements on the academic side of the house ... but it also requires us to make improvements on the athletic side of the house.” In Las Vegas, J.D. Morris notes proponents also "attempted to show the committee how the stadium proposal would benefit the region more generally -- with or without an NFL team" (LAS VEGAS SUN, 3/25).
