Vegas signs agreement with somebody to propose soccer stadium costing something and paid for somehow

The city of Las Vegas is moving ahead with that MLS stadium plan, approving an “Exclusive Negotiating Agreement” (caps in original) with Renaissance Companies — the press coverage isn’t exactly clear on whether it’s the Arizona construction managers or the California investment advisors or the Chicago housing developers, none of which appear to have experience building stadiums — to come up with a plan to “including specific details of the stadium and costs” in the next six months. So this really is an “okay, show us what you got” agreement, though calling it “exclusive” gives it a bit more official imprimatur, and presumably means the city won’t be doing anything else with the Cashman Field site in the interim.

But even if Renaissance doesn’t yet know how much the stadium would cost or who would pay for it or even which Renaissance they are, they do have renderings! Oh boy, do they have renderings:

Yes, that is indeed a retractable field in the last image, with the pitch sliding out into the open air to reveal … another soccer pitch, this one in the open air of the stadium itself? Though maybe those fine lines running across the top of the stadium represent some kind of super-invisible roof that would protect fans from the heat while allowing in all light except for what grass needs to grow? Or maybe the second field is artificial turf, so the stadium could be used for … not football, that’s what the Las Vegas Raiders stadium is for, but some other sport that needs to be played on artificial turf, like, okay, I’m not thinking of any, but maybe they’re planning to invent one?

Anyway, there’s lots of fireworks and spotlights and reflected sunlight even if not quite lens flare per se, plus plenty of entourage featuring a whole lot of Rockettes standing around outside the stadium for some reason. Also, it’s not just a stadium, it’s a “sports and innovation district,” and clearly adding “innovation” to your district name isn’t a sign that it’s an empty scam or anything. It’ll clearly be great!

Meanwhile, if you’re wondering why Las Vegas needs a new soccer stadium when it’s already building a new football stadium that could host a soccer team, Vegas Golden Knights owner Bill Foley is wondering that, too! In a just and sane world, one would hope that having two competing soccer plans would enable Vegas officials to cut the best deal for residents and taxpayers, but that is clearly not the universe we live in.

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3 comments on “Vegas signs agreement with somebody to propose soccer stadium costing something and paid for somehow

  1. I’d assume the inside one is field turf while the outside one is regular grass. That seems to be state of the art these days. And as long as the stadium is built with other people’s money why not.

    Also the tweet is definitely wrong. The final stadium will in fact look absolutely nothing like those drawings. I don’t know of a single stadium where that has occurred, especially the crazier the design is. Something boring like Allianz Field in St. Paul came close, but even then there were changes.

    1. That was my thought when i read that MLS was launching a channel on Pluto TV

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