Allegiant Stadium

The phone calls began ringing at 7 a.m. at the Tarkanian house. Council Member Lois Tarkanian, the former basketball coach’s wife of 59 years who, with her swing vote Wednesday, will decide whether the city moves ahead with a public subsidy deal for professional soccer stadium project in downtown Symphony Park.

The Las Vegas City Council is scheduled to vote Wednesday on whether to approve a new financial term sheet to build a $200 million stadium at Symphony Park meant to provide a home field for a Major League Soccer franchise.

The city of Las Vegas’ plans to use hotel room tax money for $3 million annually over 30 years for most of its share to build a $200 million subsidized downtown soccer stadium could pose a problem, a well-known local consultant believes.

With UNLV seeking a publicly funded campus stadium and Findlay chasing a subsidized downtown sports venue, Rock Rocheleau asked the car dealership chain executive during a stadium information meeting: “Maybe the two of you can come together and build one stadium?” It’s a fairly common question, but there’s more than one answer to the question.

While the city of Las Vegas is entrenched in a high-profile soccer stadium debate, the UNLV stadium board unceremoniously closed shop Thursday as the panel planned to ship a campus football/multi-purpose stadium report to the state Legislature to meet a Sept. 30 deadline.

The private developer team pitching a publicly subsidized soccer stadium is talking with Las Vegas City Council members behind the scenes about a revised funding plan to reduce the city’s financial risk.

You’d think soccer moms would welcome the chance to buy a Major League Soccer ticket and support public dollars to help build a $200 million, 24,000-seat stadium. But there’s a major problem, says Lisa Mayo-DeRiso, a Las Vegas consultant representing Nevada Youth Soccer Association.

If you’re wondering how The Cordish Cos., a Baltimore-based development company, arrived in the middle of the Great Las Vegas Soccer Stadium Debate, you might trace it back to a conversation former Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman had with former Louisville, Ky., Mayor Jerry Abramson about 15 years ago.

The Cordish Cos. is sending one of its big guns to Las Vegas next week — company Vice President Blake Cordish — to drum up support for its publicly subsidized soccer stadium proposal in downtown Symphony Park.

A proposed publicly subsidized soccer stadium in downtown Las Vegas appears doomed as Councilwoman Lois Tarkanian, the council’s swing vote on the stadium deal, said Thursday she would vote against the proposed stadium finance plan if the council vote were today.