Posted on 01/14/2018 5:43:51 PM PST by jazusamo
Nevada taxpayers shelled out $750 million to build a stadium for the soon-to-be Las Vegas Raiders — and the deal may prevent the state from being able to recoup that money by imposing new taxes on the NFL team.
An unusual provision in the Raiders agreement with the state allows the team, currently playing its final seasons in Oakland, to break the lease and look for another home if Nevada attempts to impose new taxes over the next three decades on the team, stadium, fans or players. That includes visiting teams and fans as well.
The provision applies to any “targeted tax” aimed at collecting revenue specifically from players or fans. It would not protect the team or its fans from any new taxes applied generally on businesses or individuals across Nevada, however.
Nevada could impose a tax on all sports tickets but couldn’t impose one specifically on stadiums larger than 40,000 seats, because it would only levied against Raiders’ stadium.
A separate agreement from the master lease, the targeted tax provision, is part of a series of papers that still needs approval by NFL owners and the Las Vegas Stadium Authority before any deal is approved. A final vote is scheduled for March.
Michael Leeds, a Temple University economist who has argued against the use of taxpayer funds to build sports stadiums, said the targeted tax provision goes beyond anything he has ever seen.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtontimes.com ...
Ask Irwindale, CA about making deals with the Raiders moving. The got off light, only a coupla million bucks. Suckers.
My friends there all seem to think its all a good thing for Las Vegas and NV. They see it as another way to draw people from CA and AZ, and in addition to coming for a game, some will spend money in hotels/casinos/restaurants/etc.
Although the center's current square footage is massive, the Consumer Electronics Show convention outgrew it years ago, so the center needs expansion badly.
Vegas is in no danger of losing CES to any other city (no one can rival vegas for it), but the conventioneers have been grumbling that they need to transport themselves to other venues throughout the city, and given traffic during CES, it takes an hour to travel to the other venues, even if they are merely a mile away.
So the powers that be in Vegas aren't like their brethren in other cities, who raise taxes to fund social programs. Instead, these new (and temporary!) NV taxes go to economic development.
Vegas has a new NHL team named the Vegas Golden Knights. They play in the new TMobile arena that sits 17,000 for NHL games. Every game so far (over 20) has drawn 18,000 plus. They are third in the league behind cities that have 10 times the population of the Vegas metro.
Vegas has already proven itself as a pro-sports city.
Selling out the raiders (even with the blm bs) will be effortless in vegas.
In vegas talk, they call all the money coming into the casinos and restaurants from events as "the drop". The NHL's nightly drop into the vegas economy is over well over a couple of million.
Multiply that 5 times for nfl events such as the raiders and the super bowels.
Not true... I live in Las Vegas since 2000. We don’t care and could live without the Raiders or imported franchise. The enthusiasm for the Raiders and the stadium from locals is not very positive, though the propaganda claims otherwise. The backers of the stadium and the franchise are blind to their overreach in expectation and support that the deal will ultimately produce. We don’t need the franchise or the stadium... and the tax and lease concessions are ridiculous that will stick the locals with a loss in the long-run. High-rise condos and/or additional convention space would be a better use for the stadium land.
Also, Vegas is not as pro-sports as you assume. Most of the traffic or fan-base will come from LA, Kalifornia or other die-hard football fly-ins... not from Vegas.
Though Vegas locals would be more enthusiastic in support of a home-grown football franchise... but at this time Vegas is an entertainment destination that caters to shows, boxing matches, conventions and gambling... not re-located/imported sports franchises.
This is not my personal opinion but is shared amongst many locals. But time will prove otherwise.
Just win, baby
The new stadium will bring the super bowel, final four, nfl regular season games, stadium concerts, and a new stop on stadium-level circuits, such as monster trucks.
Currently, vegas offers everything else, but just not these stadium events.
So with the new stadium, Vegas (and Vevas Inc) becomes more complete as an experience-making destination. Which is good for the local economy.
As for vegas being pro-sports, the new nhl franchise Vegas Golden Knights has the third-highest attended games in the league. And they are a first-year expansion team. They are only behind ny and la, which are 10 times the size of Vegas. So the VGK alerady outdraw 28 other teams. Proof that Vegas is a pro-sports city.
And to address your concern that visitors will make up a good portion of the crowd at the new stadium, so what? Vegas is made for visitors. To return to the VGK example, at least a quarter of their crowds are tourists. Does a vegas local really want to disourage that? Vegas (which owes it's livelihood to tourism) is the only sports town (with the exception of Orlando and Anaheim) that should welcome sports tourism.
BS!
Unlike the east bay shi+hole that the Raiders will be leaving, local nhl fans for the Vegas Golden Knights reuglarly pay $150 to $200 for a ticket. And they already make up bigger crowds than the San Jose Sharks.
NE Patriots stadium(Gillette) built privately by the team, along with shopping area complex and hotel. The state did spend a few million to improve traffic flow on Rte 1 around the area.
Of course immediately the story contradicts the headline. They’re allowed to tax the team and the fans just fine, they’re not allowed to TARGET tax the team and the fans. Nothing story.
The team puts out no money for building the stadium and yet reaps all of the profits.
They think they’ll make a ton of money off entertainment dollars for 30 years. Hotels, food, etc. Our county built a huge soccer field/area for the same reason. It’s for kids and they have huge tournaments there. When they do every hotel room in town is full.
Cleveland had the same idea when they built the Browns and Indian stadiums.
They instituted a huge bed tax on the city to recoup the cost of the stadium. What about the people that stay in the sub-burbs? Go outside the city and you pay at least $50 less per night.
But how does the state recover their part of the cost? Most of the money spent game nights would have been spent in the state anyway. How many people follow their team from state to state other than the team’s staff?
The historical facts are strongly proving you wrong about Vegas's ability to support a pro team.
Not correct. The deal was a three-way between the Raiders, the State of Nevada, and a Bank of America loan backed by Jerry Jones. Each party -- including the Raiders -- put up equal amounts of money.
Vegas is already making a ton of money off of entertainment dollars just on their new nhl team alone. Go into any Strip casino resort before and after games, and you'll see tourists and locals dressed in their respective team's nhl jerseys. Yes, they are eating in Strip restaurants and staying at Strip resorts and drinking at Strip bars. And to go beyond your list of spending examples, these fans are also gambling and attending shows, too.
Now just imagine some well-healed nfl fans who have the option to see their team play in oakland or vegas. The choice is a no brainer. No one is gonna spend their money on the bay area when vegas offers so much more.
Also, vegas has the ingenuity and the capital to keep reinventing itself every 5 to 10 years to keep bringing them back for more than your quoted 30 years.
Vegas attracts. The CES convention just shattered attendance records, despite the vegas shootings still being fresh in visitors's minds.
Vegas is unique in all the nation's sports towns in that fans of visiting teams actually want to visit Vegas. The new Vegas Golden Knights nhl team hosts crowds that are usually 20% to 25% visitors.
Add to that the devoted Raiders fans. If you've ever attended an nfl game where the Raiders are visitors, you know that many Raiders fans made the trip to see their team there. Expect tens of thousands of Southern CA Raiders fans to drive through the desert on game weekends. However, it may take several years for bay area fans to recover from their butt hurt of losing their team before they start flying in Vegas for the Raiders.
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