Los Angeles Chargers

Board overseeing proposed Las Vegas NFL stadium to meet

Published Feb. 9, 2017 1:56 p.m. ET

LAS VEGAS (AP) -- The board that oversees a proposed Las Vegas NFL stadium is set to meet publicly Thursday for the first time since an instrumental backer of the project pulled out the deal.

The meeting of the stadium authority board comes as questions remain over the funding for the facility following the withdrawal of casino magnate Sheldon Adelson and his multimillion-dollar pledge toward the $1.9 billion, 65,000-seat domed stadium that could house the Oakland Raiders.

Adelson and his family had pledged $650 million and the Raiders $500 million, with the stadium authority putting up $750 million in Las Vegas tax revenues.

The Raiders filed paperwork with the league last month to move from Oakland to Las Vegas. The relocation must be approved by three-fourths of NFL team owners. A vote could take place as early as March during scheduled league meetings.

A lease and use agreement that the Raiders presented to the stadium authority board last month includes a proposed $1 annual rent for the team. The Raiders paid $3.5 million in rent to play at Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum in 2016.

Adelson, the chief executive of Las Vegas Sands Corp. whose holdings include the Venetian and Palazzo resorts on the Las Vegas Strip, played an instrumental role in winning state approval to help fund the stadium with public money.

In withdrawing, he declared that he had been shut out of talks that led to the lease document presented to the stadium authority.

The stadium authority is a public board whose operations will be funded by the newly approved Las Vegas-area hotel tax increase that's expected to yield $13 million a year. Casinos won't start collecting that until March 1, and money won't flow to the authority until April.