It’s important to note that this stadium won’t be used for only UNLV football, but the size of this video board will be simply incredible. This video board will be 40 yards longer than the scoreboard currently installed in Dallas at Cowboys Stadium.
The sketches for this stadium look simply incredible and the project leader, Don Snyder, had this to say:
“This project is a game changer for UNLV and Las Vegas,” said Don Snyder, UNLV Now’s project lead. “It’s an important and significant project for the state as well. It’s the next big thing.”
UNLV Now will be fully enclosed, and feature two clubs, six 300-seat VIP suites, and more than 50 conventional suites seating 10 to 24 guests.
While it will only have a capacity of 60,000 people, this stadium will sell out for any event it has there. It will also be a major recruiting tool, because who wouldn’t want to play at a stadium this nice? The project is said to cost around $800 Million, but there are plenty of people involved with the project.
“This is a three-way partnership between UNLV, our private partner (Majestic) and the industry,” Snyder said, “It’s natural that they play a role.”
Snyder has talked with many of the major casino and hotel executives in town, and said he is confident the hospitality industry will help fund UNLV Now. because stadium would extend their ability to put more “heads in beds,” he said.
This mega-stadium event center would generate around $393.2 Million in new direct spending for the Las Vegas hospitality sector, according to a study done by the University of Michigan’s Center for Sports Management.
Las Vegas is all about putting on a great show, and having another venue off the strip that can support more people would allow for all sorts of different events:
These new events might include a Mountain West Conference football championship game, a new college football bowl game, a NFL exhibition game, the UFC International Fight Week, a championship boxing match, a soccer expo, a smaller Electric Daisy Carnival music festival, the American Country Music awards and touring concerts.
I think this is a simply incredible idea and this stadium would be a must-see. According to the project leader Don Snyder, the next six months will be critical and UNLV has some serious work to do:
• Seeking approval from the Nevada Legislature to allow a tax-increment finance district for the project. If the district is approved, the project would be exempt from paying property, sales and live entertainment taxes for an estimated 25 to 30 years. Developers could still collect those fees and keep the money to help pay off the project’s debt. A similar attempt to allow tax dollars to be used to fund a stadium’s construction failed late in the 2011 session.
• Contacting the LVCVA, hotels and casinos to seek their pledges.
• Seeking approval from regents for an “area plan” for the stadium.
• Completing the “basic economic terms” between Majestic and regents, expected in late February.
I really hope this stadium gets built, and I know that UNLV will do all they can to get this project done.
