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Decision on Las Vegas’ proposed stadium deal pushed back

LasVegasStadium_Exterior (FindlaySportsLV)

By FRANCO PANIZO

Las Vegas’ aspirations to join MLS are still alive, but Sin City still faces an uphill battle in the quest to land a franchise.

The Las Vegas City Council met on Wednesday to vote on the $200 million stadium project that developers Findlay Sports and Entertainment of Las Vegas and Cordish Cos. of Baltimore have proposed. No decision was reached, however, and a final verdict has now been delayed until Oct. 1.

Three of the the seven City Council members supported the deal while another three opposed it, leaving Councilwoman Lois Tarkanian with the swing vote. But she refrained from choosing a side for now, as she believes the stadium’s financial plan isn’t viable yet and that the community has not examined it thoroughly enough yet.

The three council members who voted against the stadium deal did so because they were not in favor of the public funding, including $115 million in city bonds, that has been proposed.

If Tarkanian ultimately decides she is in favor of the deal, the developers will still have some convincing to do to get final approval for the stadium. The council is expected to meet in December to look over more of the deal’s details, including a stadium lease and development agreement.

State law requires that a super majority of five votes come from the council in order to issue the $115 million in bonds, meaning that the developers would have to sway the decision of at least one of the three members that voted against the deal on Wednesday in order to keep the MLS dreams from being crushed.

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What do you make of this development? Disappointed? Think the developers will get that fourth “yes” vote for the deal in October?

Share your thoughts below.

Comments

  1. A delay usually means that the council is experiencing sticker shock, and typically is a win for the big $$ projects where I live. They just give everyone another go at it to make sure.

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    • why would DCU be ashamed? they’ve tried everything to get a stadium built. the city is the problem…always has been. yet i’m sure Snyder will get the new Redskins stadium he just said he wants.

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    • The Cordishes are based in Baltimore, but they develop properties all over the country. The Kansas City shots they kept showing during the WC, is just one of the properties that Cordish has developed.

      Reply
  2. Stick a fork in it. This type of sweetheart public subsidy deal is best accomplished when nobody is looking, which is no longer the case.

    Reply

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