Las Vegas boosts effort to get Cashman Center NFL stadium proposal noticed

Las Vegas City Council members directed city staff Wednesday to step up the campaign and tout Cashman Center’s viability as a potential NFL stadium site, the only site within city boundaries that’s been identified as being in contention.

Council members told City Manager Betsy Fretwell and her team to continue to study Cashman’s viability, including transportation access and surrounding city-controlled property.

Mayor Carolyn Goodman touted what she called Cashman’s superior access, comparing it to the other sites that are in contention to house a 65,000-seat domed stadium that could be the future home of the Oakland Raiders.

Goodman wants the city to push for Cashman to stay in contention and said Wednesday she wants the developers to visit the downtown Las Vegas site and consider its viability.

“My hope is that Betsy and team will be able to put a lasso around the necks of the owners and get them to come physically and take a look at this,” Goodman said.

The Southern Nevada Tourism Infrastructure Committee, on which Goodman sits, is considering a proposal to locate a domed stadium at one of nine possible sites. The committee, which Gov. Brian Sandoval recently extended through September with an executive order, is scheduled to meet again July 28.

The stadium project has been proposed as a public-private partnership, with casino operator Las Vegas Sands Corp., Majestic Realty and the Oakland Raiders the private backers. The Raiders have said they would seek relocation to the Las Vegas Valley if public financing for the stadium is approved.

City officials have no scheduled meetings with the developer, Fretwell said.

One of the major lingering unknowns is the public financing component.

In June, a financing plan was proposed that would decrease the public financing component, drawn from hotel room taxes, to $550 million from $700 million, which met with criticism.

Goodman voiced confidence Wednesday that a stadium could be up and operating at the Cashman site faster than the other proposed sites, but acknowledged developers have suggested closer proximity to the Strip than Cashman is attractive.

“The reality is the interest of the private ownership is to keep it closer to the resort corridor,” Goodman said.

The council voted 5-0 in favor of continuing to pursue Cashman as a potential site. Councilmen Stavros Anthony and Bob Coffin were absent for the vote.

Cashman’s proximity to Interstate 15 and U.S. Highway 95, as well as roughly 25,000 parking spaces, were also listed by city officials as perks.

The stadium also would host other special sports and entertainment events.

Cashman itself is about 51 acres, and the city controls a few other adjacent properties, adding up to 25 to 30 additional acres.

Councilman Ricki Barlow said the city should emphasize the other city properties around Cashman, the Project Neon freeway rehabilitation project and the proposed light rail project along Maryland Parkway, which could transport UNLV students to the site.

“Regardless of where the final destination shall be for a potential stadium, I am in support of an NFL stadium being in Las Vegas,” Barlow said. “… The window of opportunity will close and it will be many, many years before this opportunity presents itself back in our state.”

The Review-Journal is owned by the family of Las Vegas Sands Chairman and CEO Sheldon Adelson.

Correction: A previous version of this story incorrectly characterized the size of a proposed stadium that Las Vegas city officials are urging developers to consider the current Cashman Center site for. The proposal calls for a 65,000-seat stadium.

Contact Jamie Munks at jmunks@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0340. Find @JamieMunksRJ on Twitter.