Report: Raiders secure Las Vegas stadium financing from Bank of America
The Oakland Raiders have found a financial partner to back their new proposed stadium in Las Vegas.
According to the Daily News, Bank of America has been secured to help complete financing on a $1.9 billion, 65,000-seat stadium that would be located on the Las Vegas Strip.
The state of Nevada has committed $750 million to the project, with the team and the league paying the remaining cost contingent on the owners approval. The Raiders are eligible for relocation, but 24 of the 32 NFL owners must approve any move. The league's owners are set to meet in Phoenix later this month.
The Raiders most likely will stay in Oakland for the next two seasons, with any planned stadium opening in 2020 at the earliest if the relocation is approved.
In December, the Oakland City Council approved a resolution authorizing the city to negotiate with Fortress Investment Group, which is headed by Hall of Famer Ronnie Lott and former quarterback Rodney Peete, to build a new football stadium for the Raiders. That non-binding resolution called for $350 million in public money to be used for the stadium.
"We presented a plan that we believe responsibly meets the needs of all parties," Oakland mayor Libby Schaaf said in a statement. "We made a sound economic case for keeping the Raiders in Oakland through the creation of what would become one of America's premier mixed-use sporting venues ...The Oakland solution for the Raiders keeps the Raiders at home in Oakland, in the country's sixth largest media market that is demonstrating strong growth due to its innovative and diverse economy."
The Fortress Investment Group plan is for a 55,000-seat, $1.3 billion stadium that would be placed at the current site of the Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum.
- Scooby Axson
