Las Vegas NFL Stadium Would Be A Boon For Tourism

The building of a 65,000-seat NFL football stadium in Las Vegas could bring in an extra 451,417 tourists who might otherwise not have visited the city, according to a new report produced by local analytics firm, Applied Analysis. While the proposal made by Las Vegas Sands CEO Sheldon Adelson and Oakland Raiders owner Mark Davis offers a number of other economic benefits adding up to more than $620 million per year, the project does still carry a hefty price tag of $1.9 billion.
Furthermore, completion of a Las Vegas NFL stadium would require a public funding contribution of $750 million, which has already raised objections from certain groups. The remaining money would then be provided by the Adelson family ($650m), and the Oakland Raiders ($500m).
The proposed location of the NFL football stadium is not far from the Las Vegas Strip, but Clark County Clark County Commissioner Chris Giunchigliani has already questioned some of the findings of the Applied Analysis report, particularly concerning the optimistic economic benefits of the project. In addition, Giunchigliani has raised concerns over future traffic congestion, and the possibility of football fans reserving some of the city’s most valuable hotel rooms, while ignoring the hotel’s gambling venues and other entertainments offered by Sin City.
One public figure speaking out in favor of the project, however, is Mayor Carolyn Goodman, who is currently lobbying to have the stadium built in Downtown Las Vegas, instead. The Cashman Center would be demolished at a cost of $5 million in order to accommodate the proposed site, bringing benefits to an economically deprived neighborhood suffering from homelessness, as well as a variety of other socail ills. As Goodman explains:
“The best site without equivocation is downtown. It is ready. If we got the call from Mr. Adelson tomorrow saying, ‘I’ve changed my mind I’m coming to Cashman’ – right off the top, he’s saving $250 million.”