Raiders owner Mark Davis and billionaire Las Vegas Sands chairman Sheldon Adelson met in Las Vegas on Wednesday, the day before the 2016 NFL regular season kicks off, to discuss a funding deal on the proposed $1.9 billion stadium on The Strip, KTNV reported Thursday.
According to the report, the topic of discussion among more than a dozen people gathered at the Clark County Building was a new draft of a compromise bill to be sent to state lawmakers on how to fund the proposed retractable-roof facility.
Citing unidentified sources, KTNV reported that Adelson agreed to remove certain funding stipulations but wouldn't back down on his demands for $750 million in public money through hotel room taxes.
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In a wide-ranging interview with Yahoo Finance, Adelson — ranked No. 15 on last year’s Forbes 400 list with $30 billion in net worth — cited the need for the public financing.
Yahoo's current breakdown of financing:
Davis has committed to moving the team, and he has pledged $500 million to the stadium project, which includes a $200 million NFL loan and the likely sale of Raiders personal seat licenses. Adelson will contribute $650 million of his own money. The final piece would be $750 million in public funding, raised by raising the hotel room tax in Clark County by less than 1 percent. That brings the total to $1.9 billion; that price tag could still go higher.
Adelson, according to KTNV's report, agreed to cover any cost overruns. The Southern Nevada Tourism Infrastructure Committee was expected to draft a new bill to be presented Thursday. A vote could occur as early as next week, which could prompt Gov. Brian Sandoval to call a special legislative session.
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In the Yahoo interview, Adelson put the ball squarely in Davis' court: "He can’t build a stadium himself, otherwise he would have built it in Oakland. … But I’m not going to sell Davis; either he wants it or he doesn’t want it. … If I’m going to have to go out and beg Mark Davis or somebody else to do it, I’m out. If they want to find somebody who is desperate as a football fan and wants to be a part of a football club, then they picked the wrong guy. That’s not me."
