$2B Las Vegas stadium awaits Raiders after final game in Oakland
As the Raiders played their final home game Sunday in Oakland against the Jacksonville Jaguars, their soon-to-be-home Allegiant Stadium moves closer to completion 550 miles away in the desert.
The $2 billion, 65,000-fan-capacity — expandable to 72,000 — indoor stadium located just west of the Strip will be a needed upgrade from Oakland’s RingCentral Coliseum, opened in 1966.
Personal seat licenses for Allegiant Stadium for Raiders games are virtually sold out, as only around 400 of the 65,000 remain, according to Raiders President Marc Badain.
The 1.75 million-square-foot facility will have all the features expected in a modern sports stadium and then some when it is substantially completed on July 31.
Retractable field
With the Raiders and UNLV football sharing Allegiant Stadium, there will be two playing surfaces. The Raiders will play on natural grass, located on a field tray that will be outside of the stadium on non-game days to promote growth. UNLV will play on artificial turf, laid out on the stadium’s floor.
The 9,500-ton, 4-foot-deep field tray will take 90 minutes to move in and out of the stadium, rolled on 13 rails powered by 76 electric motors.
On Raiders game days, the outdoor area where the field tray sits will be used for tailgating.
Retractable doors
Allegiant Stadium won’t have a retractable roof, but it will have massive retractable doors.
Lanai doors will open to an 80-by-215-foot opening on the stadium’s north end, allowing for fresh air and an outdoor feel and offering views of the Strip.
A 55,000-square-foot club and the 85-foot-tall Al Davis memorial torch will also be in the area.
Luxury seating
Allegiant Stadium will feature 126 suites and around 8,000 club seats. Premium seat holders will have upgraded seating, service and amenities, parking passes and access to the larger events at the stadium.
While the suites are beneficial for every event, they are a crucial factor that helps draw large-scale events.
“It’s also good for the Super Bowl,” Badain told the Las Vegas Review-Journal in May. “The more suites you have, the better opportunity you have to bid for the Super Bowl.”
The Raiders are working on a bid for the 2025 Super Bowl, he added.
ETFE roof
The cable net roofing system will be topped off with a translucent ethylene tetrafluoroethylene, or ETFE, roof.
The roof is made up of 100 steel cables, stretching up to 800 feet in length, marking the first time that roofing system is being used in the U.S., according to Las Vegas Stadium Co. Chief Operating Officer Don Webb.
The roof will allow for sunlight into the stadium but control the amount of heat going into the stadium.
Contact Mick Akers at makers@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2920. Follow @mickakers on Twitter.