NFL approves Raiders Las Vegas stadium financing agreements

Some of you might be thinking, ‘wait, didn’t we do this a year ago? If not then what was all the ceremonial groundbreaking stuff?’ Yeah, there was an approval around this time last year. That was to approve the Raiders to move from Oakland to Las Vegas. What the league had yet to approve was their 65,000-seat stadium financing plan.

Today at the owners meeting in Orlando Florida that plan was passed by the owners by a 31-1 vote.

The deal includes a record $750 million in public funds toward the $1.8 billion price tag for the stadium. That public money along with the $200 million G4 loan from the NFL and Raiders equity financing of some $850 million is how the cost will be covered. The organization has already invested some $180 million in the project to purchase the land as well as preparing the ground for construction.

The next step will be for the Las Vegas Stadium Authority to sign the agreements which is expected to happen Wednesday. Then on April 3 the Clark County Commission is expected to sign construction bonds.

This timetable will have the stadium on schedule for completion as of August 1, 2020. A close call to be ready for the 2020 season as planned.

In the meantime, the Raiders hope to play in Oakland at least the next two seasons. They have a lease for 2018, and hope to then sign another one for 2019.