Stop the
presses, and the moving vans while you’re at it. The Oakland Raiders’ jump to Las Vegas has
hit a snag. Suddenly, financing has
become an issue.
Raiders’ owner
Mark Davis was counting on a loan from Vegas casino owner Sheldon Adelson for
up to $650 million, but Davis reportedly angered Adelson by submitting a
proposed lease agreement to the new stadium authority. Stop a second to consider that sentence—the
tenant is writing the lease. This could
only happen in the realm of American pro sports. Davis apparently wanted to pay $1 a year in
rent—yes, you’re reading that correctly—with the power to tell the University
of Nevada-Las Vegas, who are set to be co-tenants, when they can use the
facility. Again, read that sentence a
second time.
According to the
San Jose Mercury News, Adelson didn’t like the terms of the lease. He may have felt bad for UNLV, or he may have
been ticked that Davis was stealing a page from his own play book. Either way, Goldman Sachs joined Adelson in
pulling support for the project, which leads to this interesting question.
Why doesn’t
Davis go build the thing all on his own?
I mean, if football is so popular and all, he should be able to attract
other investors. Hey, it’s a new day in
America. Maybe Davis should ask what The
Donald would do. Then again, maybe that’s
how he got into this mess in the first place.
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