LVCVA staff to collect up to $600K annually for stadium authority work

Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority staff will now serve in an administrative role for the Las Vegas Stadium Authority.

The LVCVA Board of Directors on Tuesday approved the agreement, which will see the stadium authority pay the tourism agency up to $600,000 per year for work its staff conducts on the stadium oversight committee’s behalf.

The move comes after Applied Analysis, which represented the authority as staff since its inception in 2016, vacated the role to continue paid work with the Oakland Athletics and their Las Vegas relocation process.

The stadium authority negotiated key agreements with the Raiders that led to the construction of Allegiant Stadium and the relocation of the Raiders from Oakland to Las Vegas.

When the 65,000-seat facility was completed in July 2022, the Raiders transferred ownership of the building to the stadium authority. The authority, in conjunction with the Raiders, now oversees the operations and maintenance of the $2 billion stadium.

Applied Analysis principal analyst Jeremy Aguero assisted the Raiders and the A’s secure public funding for their respective Las Vegas stadium projects. The Raiders netted $750 million toward Allegiant Stadium via the Nevada Legislature in 2016, and the A’s landed up to $380 million during a special session of the Legislature in June. That money is scheduled to be used to finance a portion of the construction of their planned Strip ballpark.

The stadium authority is funded by a portion of the room tax revenue set up for Allegiant Stadium. The board would also see a portion of revenue generated by a special tax district to be set up around the A’s ballpark that would generate the public portion of the funding plan.

With the A’s relocation process ongoing, the stadium authority will also negotiate various agreements and contracts with the Major League Baseball team tied to their planned $1.5 billion ballpark.

Because Aguero and Applied Analysis plan to continue paid consulting work for the A’s as their relocation situation plays out, their administrative role with the stadium authority was vacated to avoid a conflict of interest.

“They have done fantastic work that would have been difficult to replace,” LVCVA President and CEO Steve Hill said Thursday during the board meeting. “They deserve as much credit for Allegiant Stadium being here and all its successes as any group of people in that conversation.”

Aguero told the Las Vegas Review-Journal last month that he doesn’t have a defined role with the A’s, but that he is conducting needed work to ensure their relocation to Southern Nevada is a smooth transition.

Hill, who also chairs the stadium authority board, will not take part in dealings between the tourism agency and the stadium authority. Instead, LVCVA Chief Financial Officer Ed Finger will lead that work.

“We’ll do that using existing staff, we’ll support that staff with contracted employee help, and charge the stadium authority for the actual costs of the effort,” Finger said.

Contact Mick Akers at makers@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2920. Follow @mickakers on X.