Raider stadium will be great deal for UNLV

I moved to Las Vegas in 2008 and have been an avid supporter of the Rebels football team since that time. I am a season ticket holder, and, win or lose, I’m happy to support my home team.

With this in mind, I have watched the development of the new (Raiders) stadium with interest from day one, and I am growing more and more excited for the future of the Rebel program. This includes when I read your Dec. 29 article, “Stadium deal looking good for UNLV,” which outlined a number of perks the UNLV football program will receive from their partnership with the Raider organization.

Despite my enthusiasm for the football program, though, I have been somewhat troubled by how the stadium will affect the Las Vegas community. We are already contributing more in taxes to this stadium than any city has provided for an NFL stadium. In addition, parking and transportation will be a nightmare for locals.

Finally, as mentioned in the article, the Raiders will be playing on real grass, grown outside the stadium, in the desert. How can we allow the Raiders to waste tens of thousands of gallons of water a year for pristine grass they will use only 10 times? Meanwhile, those of us paying for it are forbidden from having grass in our yards? It makes zero sense.

I’m excited for UNLV, and I’m proud of the school’s sensible decision to use turf. I’m disappointed, however, in the fact that those in charge of this “deal” completely missed the boat when it came to saving the most valuable resource we have in our city.