Proponents cheer stadium at event that draws Raiders great Howie Long

About 400 people on Monday cheered the prospect of building a $1.9 billion, 65,000-seat domed football stadium in an event that was more pep rally than news conference.

The rally attended by Oakland Raiders and UNLV cheerleaders outside the Thomas & Mack Center also featured an appearance by former Oakland and Los Angeles Raiders defensive great Howie Long.

While most of the rally was built around boosting the stadium plan, much of the post-event buzz centered on next week’s special session of the Nevada Legislature when lawmakers will consider one bill that will include proposals for financing the stadium and a $1.4 billion convention center expansion.

Opponents of the stadium proposal offered by the family of Sheldon Adelson, Majestic Realty and the Raiders have begun assessing what that strategy will mean to their efforts.

Long drew cheers from dozens of Raiders fans that attended Monday’s event.

“If I’ve said it once, I’ve said it 14 times since I’ve landed,” Long told the frenzied crowd. “To me, this is a no-brainer. This is like a trick SAT question: ‘Spell cat,’ and I’m saying, ‘Where’s the trick here? Where’s the problem?’ ”

Long told the crowd that when the Legislature meets to consider the package for the 65,000-seat domed football stadium it could become a part of history that the Raiders are attempting to make on the field this season. Long said the Raiders, who are now 3-1 with three road victories, invited him to address the team prior to the beginning of the season.

“As I told them this summer, it’s time for (players) Derek Carr, Khalil Mack, for (head coach) Jack Del Rio, for (general manager) Reggie McKenzie, for (owner) Mark Davis and now for the city of Las Vegas potentially to make their own history. It’s hard to put history in perspective when it’s happening and this, to me, is a win-win, it’s a no-brainer.

“The question is does Las Vegas want to be a part of that history?” Long said.

After the event, Long said he was “totally disappointed” that officials in Oakland couldn’t deliver a package to keep the Raiders in that city, but that most players are excited about the prospect of playing in Las Vegas if the stadium is built.

“I think anyone who has ever played in Oakland would have liked to have seen that happen, but unfortunately when you’re pounding your head against the wall repeatedly … what’s Einstein’s definition of insanity, doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result?”

Long said most people associated with the team want what’s best for the Raiders organization and while most would prefer the team stay in Oakland, the Las Vegas option is looking better for the team’s future success.

“You have to move forward,” he said. “If you want to be a viable franchise, it’s about the stadium, it’s about the luxury boxes, it’s about that kind of input into a franchise that allows you to be competitive.”

But the proposal is not without controversy. It includes a request for $750 million in public funds through a 0.88 percentage-point increase in Clark County’s 12 percent hotel and motel room tax that will be considered in the special legislative session.

Two organizations last week came out in opposition to the public funding element. The Nevada Taxpayers Association and Nevadans for the Common Good indicated they would oppose devoting revenue received from the hotel room tax increase to retire general obligation bonds used to build the stadium.

The proposal to put both the stadium financing and the financing of a $1.4 billion convention center expansion project into one legislative bill puts a new wrinkle in the debate. The convention center expansion, also recommended for approval by the Southern Nevada Tourism Infrastructure Committee, appears to have solid backing by legislators. Packaging the projects together could either bolster support for the stadium by convention center backers or torpedo both projects.

The recommendation for the convention center expansion would include a 0.5 percentage-point increase in the room tax.

Anna Thornley, president of the Carson City-based Nevada Taxpayers Association, said her organization polled its members only on their stance on the stadium, finding that 57 percent of the organization’s board is opposed to the proposed increase in the hotel room tax for the stadium.

“We have no position on the convention center expansion,” Thornley said Monday afternoon.

“As the language (of proposed legislation) becomes available, we’ll review it and assess it at that time,” she said. “We may have to repoll our members.”

Another opponent, the Las Vegas-based Nevadans for the Common Good, a faith-based organization that has worked primarily on social issues, was critical of the strategy in an email.

“Tying the stadium plan to the convention center is pure politics,” said the Rev. Dennis Hutson, pastor of the Advent United Methodist Church and a member of the organization’s executive team.

“The public is becoming increasingly aware of the risks involved in the stadium plan,” Hutson said. “Rather than offering a better deal, the developers are trying to tie their sinking ship to the more popular convention center.”

In August, Senate Majority Leader Michael Roberson said he didn’t think there would be enough affirmative votes in the Legislature to approve a tax increase critical to financing the convention center.

Roberson said at the time that it would be politically strategic to package a proposal for the football stadium with the convention center expansion to get both passed.

While Roberson had doubts about the convention center expansion being approved, Monday’s event was all about the stadium.

Former Las Vegas Mayor Jan Jones Blackhurst, a Caesars Entertainment executive and a leader in the new Win Win Nevada Coalition of gaming, business and community leaders supporting the stadium, noted that jets departing from McCarran International Airport are filled with tourists visiting the city and more would come with the addition of the stadium.

Other speakers supporting the stadium effort included Steve Hill, director of the Governor’s Office of Economic Development and the chairman of the Southern Nevada Tourism Infrastructure Committee that delivered the recommendation for the stadium to Gov. Brian Sandoval; Clark County Commissioner Lawrence Weekly, who chairs the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority board of directors; Tommy White of Laborers International Union Local 872, a supporter of the stadium project; and UNLV head football coach Tony Sanchez.

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

Contact Richard N. Velotta at rvelotta@reviewjournal.com or 702-477-3893. Follow @RickVelotta on Twitter.