Speaking of misleading headlines, the Las Vegas Review-Journal asked soon-to-be-retiring U.S. Sen. Harry Reid what he thought of the possibility of the Oakland Raiders moving to Las Vegas, and mumbled something about how sure, that’d be nice:
“I think it would be great if the Raiders came to Las Vegas,” Reid said. “I think it would be great that the most successful convention and visitors authority got the help that they need. So I hope they both get help. We’ll see.”…
As to the public financing being sought for the 65,000-seat stadium — up to $750 million, financed by a proposed increase in Clark County’s hotel room tax — Reid noted that, to his knowledge, no federal money would be requested.
“So I think you leave that to the state Legislature and state and local governments,” he said. “I know it’s in dispute. Would I like to have a professional football team, an NFL team? Of course. That would be great.”
Not exactly a ringing endorsement, especially for the $950 million in public funds (when you count TIF tax kickbacks) that would be required, but it’s certainly vaguely positive. The Review-Journal’s headline:
Reid declares support for stadium, Raiders’ move to Las Vegas
The Review-Journal, of course, is owned by Sheldon Adelson, the billionaire casino magnate who is asking for the $950 million so he can build the stadium. I’d blame it on that, but as we’ve seen, plenty of newspapers without overt conflicts of interest have done just as crappy a job.
Between this paper owned by Adelson and the NHL expansion set-up it is all very disturbing to watch. My understanding is that at least the hockey arena was built with private funds and I appreciate that if that is accurate but there is almost no concern that most of the NHL teams in the US make no money. Never mind that no one has mentioned the catastrophe next door in Arizona.
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/how-the-las-vegas-home-market-will-benefit-from-the-nhl-expansion-team-2016-07-26
This article here states “if and when the new Las Vegas hockey team shows profitability, the influx of interested organizations could mean continued construction of new stadiums, even more jobs, more housing and population increase as well as a greater reinvestment into the community.” Who buys this? How is this allowed? Very disturbing.
http://www.statista.com/statistics/193744/operating-income-of-national-hockey-league-teams-in-2010/
http://www.statista.com/statistics/193468/total-league-revenue-of-the-nhl-since-2006/
More than 70% of the teams in the league make money and the league itself has grown in income. And the catastrophe that is AZ is mainly due to the city of Glendale, its former owner unnecessarily putting the team into bankruptcy years ago, trying an under the table deal to relocate the team, which then forced the league’s hand into buying the team and frantically searching for a new, respectable owner, which they have now.
http://thehockeywriters.com/the-coyotes-saga-coyote-ugly/
The Raiders just had “Las Vegas Raiders” trademarked. Mark Davis says he’s willing to throw in $500M.
I’m sure he’d get reimbursed for that $500M, but still; this seems more real now.
You cannot further from the truth
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