{"id":34407,"date":"2016-08-23T12:58:10","date_gmt":"2016-08-23T19:58:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nevadanewsandviews.com\/?p=34407"},"modified":"2016-08-23T13:05:35","modified_gmt":"2016-08-23T20:05:35","slug":"when-it-comes-to-the-las-vegas-stadium-should-we-listen-to-jim-murren","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/nevadanewsandviews.com\/when-it-comes-to-the-las-vegas-stadium-should-we-listen-to-jim-murren\/","title":{"rendered":"When It Comes to the Las Vegas Stadium, Should We Listen to Jim Murren?"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Las<\/a><\/p>\n

(Chuck Muth)<\/em> – Jim Murren<\/strong> has been in the news a lot lately, pontificating and venturing his personal opinions on a host of issues, including the presidential race and the proposed Las Vegas stadium.\u00a0 So let\u2019s take a look at him a little closer\u2026<\/p>\n

Murren is chairman and CEO of MGM Resorts International.\u00a0 He\u2019s a business executive whose background is as a Wall Street securities analyst.\u00a0 He is not an entrepreneur who risked his own money and started his own businesses like, for example, Steve Wynn<\/strong> of Wynn Resorts or Sheldon Adelson<\/strong> of the Las Vegas Sands.<\/p>\n

Or Donald Trump<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Maybe that explains Murren\u2019s very controversial decision to bring PAID PARKING<\/u> to the Las Vegas Strip last year.\u00a0 That was clearly a \u201cbean counter\u201d move by a business manager, not a business owner, to fund his new T-Mobile arena on the backs of tourists.<\/p>\n

Politically he claims to be a Republican, but has never been known to actively support the Nevada or Clark County Republican parties or its associated clubs.<\/p>\n

To the contrary, Murren was prominently featured in 2010 as a member of \u201cRepublicans for Reid\u201d \u2013 a group of Republicans who supported Democrat U.S. Sen. Harry Reid\u2019s<\/strong> re-election campaign.<\/p>\n

And this month Murren publicly announced that he was supporting liberal Democrat Hillary Clinton<\/strong> for president.<\/p>\n

For some reason, the acronym \u201cRINO\u201d (Republican in Name Only) keeps popping into my head.\u00a0 I wonder why?<\/p>\n

But let\u2019s get to the Las Vegas stadium issue\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n

There are two competing tourism-related projects currently on the drawing board under consideration by the Southern Nevada Tourism Infrastructure Committee (SNTIC).<\/p>\n

One is to spend $1.4 billion of room tax money – paid almost 100% by tourists – to expand the existing taxpayer-subsidized Las Vegas Convention Center, which competes at below market rates with private Las Vegas convention facilities operated by a variety of Las Vegas resorts and hotels.<\/p>\n

The second project \u2013 a modern 65,000-seat domed multi-purpose stadium – proposes spending $750 million of room tax money as essentially a loan towards the construction cost for this public-private venture.\u00a0 I say \u201cloan\u201d because, unlike the convention center project, the stadium project proposes to pay the taxpayers back from stadium revenues over the coming years.<\/p>\n

The stadium project would only go forward if the Oakland Raiders football team seeks and obtains permission from the NFL to move the franchise to Las Vegas \u2013 which is the only way this project makes financial sense.<\/p>\n

And while some are suggesting the public funding level should be less, I understand the proposed level is what the NFL wants to see to show sufficient public support for the relocation.\u00a0 So even if the funding formula was changed to include a smaller public share, that might cause the league to reject the Raiders\u2019 move.<\/p>\n

And again, without the Raiders, the project is dead.<\/p>\n

Lastly, there is no competing stadium facility in Las Vegas other than the outdated, 40-year-old Sam Boyd Stadium where UNLV football games are currently played.\u00a0 If we want bigger and better entertainment events other than the Raiders \u2013 and we should – the Sam Boyd has to be replaced and located closer to the Strip.<\/p>\n

Now\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n

The proposed stadium project could be funded individually without raising the existing room tax if the convention center expansion is shelved.<\/p>\n

But to pay for the convention center expansion, the room tax would have to be raised 0.5 percentage points to 12%.<\/p>\n

So, in an either\/or situation the stadium project would not raise the room tax but the convention center expansion would.<\/p>\n

Naturally, as often happens when politicians and special interests get involved, many are trying to have their cake and eat it, too.\u00a0 They\u2019re proposing to raise the room tax a full percentage point to pay for BOTH<\/span> projects rather than make the tough decision to fund only one of them.<\/p>\n

By the way, NFL teams seeking relocation don\u2019t happen very often.\u00a0 Realistically, it\u2019s now or never if Las Vegas wants to get an NFL team.\u00a0 Because if we don\u2019t take the Raiders now while the Raiders are willing to move, who knows when, if ever, such an opportunity will present itself again.<\/p>\n

On the other hand, the convention center has the option of delaying its expansion project, or raising its rates to market levels to fund it.<\/p>\n

So here\u2019s the problem\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n

While Murren says he doesn\u2019t object to the idea of building a new, world-class domed stadium, he \u2013 for whatever reason \u2013 says the convention center expansion is a \u201cmust have\u201d while the stadium is a \u201cnice to have.\u201d<\/p>\n

Adelson, owner of the Las Vegas Sands convention center, as well as the Venetian and Palazzo mega-resorts on the Strip, disagrees.<\/p>\n

Adelson is one of the private partners seeking to develop the stadium facility, along with Majestic Realty and the Oakland Raiders \u2013 all of which are putting up the lion\u2019s share of the funding for the estimated $2 billion project and will be on the hook for any cost overruns.<\/p>\n

In an article written by Richard Velotta<\/strong> and published by the Las Vegas Review-Journal<\/em> on Tuesday, Adelson said that based on his experience, \u201ca stadium in Las Vegas is a must-have and the convention center expansion is not even a nice-to-have.\u201d<\/p>\n

Velotta\u2019s story continues\u2026<\/p>\n

\u201cAdelson said major conventions and trade shows would stay in Las Vegas even if the convention center is not expanded. Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority executives have said the city will lose convention business to other cities if the expansion plan is rejected.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cNo shows are going to leave Las Vegas for another city,\u201d Adelson said. \u201cI\u2019ve personally spoken to organizers, including the ones referenced by the LVCVA, and only one said his show could fit in another city – but he had no intention of even considering that.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cAdditionally, the likelihood of attracting new shows remains extremely unlikely,\u201d he said. \u201cMany of the shows the LVCVA has targeted to bring to Las Vegas want to come during times early in the year when all of the hotel rooms in town are already booked with existing conventions.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

I think most people will find Adelson\u2019s arguments far more compelling than Murren\u2019s.<\/p>\n

But my guess is SNTIC is going to punt the ball.\u00a0 It will finalize and recommend a funding package for the convention center expansion, as well as a separate funding package for the stadium.\u00a0 Then the governor will call a special session of the Legislature to finalize the deal.<\/p>\n

It\u2019d be nice to think legislators will make the tough either\/or decision to fund one of the two projects – and make the right decision to fund the stadium.<\/p>\n

But we\u2019re not exactly talking about profiles in political courage here.\u00a0 After all, these same 63 people just shoved a ginormous $1.4 billion tax hike down our throats last year instead of making the tough decisions to cut unnecessary, non-critical government spending.<\/p>\n

The only solace is that this time Las Vegas tourists will be getting the shaft instead of us.<\/p>\n

Somehow that doesn\u2019t exactly give me the warm-and-fuzzies.<\/p>\n

(Mr. Muth is president of Citizen Outreach, which, in the interest of disclosure, has received financial support from the Las Vegas Sands over the years)<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

(Chuck Muth) – Jim Murren has been in the news a lot lately, pontificating and venturing his personal opinions on a host of issues, including the presidential race and the proposed Las Vegas stadium.\u00a0 So let\u2019s take a look at him a little closer\u2026 Murren is chairman and CEO of MGM Resorts International.\u00a0 He\u2019s a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":32687,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[748],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/nevadanewsandviews.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34407"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/nevadanewsandviews.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/nevadanewsandviews.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/nevadanewsandviews.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/nevadanewsandviews.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=34407"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"http:\/\/nevadanewsandviews.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34407\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":34410,"href":"http:\/\/nevadanewsandviews.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34407\/revisions\/34410"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/nevadanewsandviews.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/32687"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/nevadanewsandviews.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=34407"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/nevadanewsandviews.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=34407"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/nevadanewsandviews.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=34407"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}