Casino mogul Adelson pulls out of Las Vegas stadium deal: media

[January 31, 2017]  (Reuters) - Casino mogul Sheldon Adelson has withdrawn his family's financial support for a deal to build a $1.9 billion stadium that would help relocate the National Football League's Oakland Raiders to Las Vegas, local media reported.

Adelson, who had pledged up to $650 million toward construction of the stadium, pulled his support after the team presented a lease proposal last week to the Clark County Stadium Authority without his knowledge, he said in a statement on Monday to the Las Vegas Review Journal.

"It was certainly shocking to the Adelson family. We were not only excluded from the proposed agreement; we weren’t even aware of its existence," he said.

Adelson said in October he was prepared to walk away from a deal if the terms offered by the team, owned by Mark Davis, did not improve.

"The Raiders remain steadfast in honoring Mark Davis’ commitment to Governor Sandoval and the State of Nevada to pursue relocation to Las Vegas," the team said in a statement issued to local media outlets.

Nevada officials are offering $750 million in hotel taxes to help build a new $1.9 billion domed stadium. The rest of the $1.15 billion would come from the Raiders and private partners that include Goldman Sachs Group Inc <GS.N>, said Jeremy Aguero, an official for the Las Vegas Stadium Authority.

The Raiders told the stadium authority that Goldman Sachs would finance the construction of the stadium, whether or not the Adelsons were involved, said the Review Journal, a newspaper owned by the Adelson family.

"The Raiders are putting a lot of hopes in the Goldman Sachs commitments, but I don’t know the extent of their commitments, and I certainly do not share that same level of hope," Clark County Commission Chairman Steve Sisolak said to the newspaper.

Gambling giant Las Vegas Sands Corp's Chief Executive Sheldon Adelson speaks during an interview with Reuters in Macau, China on December 18, 2015. REUTERS/Tyrone Siu/File Photo

The Raiders filed paperwork with the league on Jan. 19 to move to Las Vegas, officials said.

The National Football League said the Raiders' application would be reviewed by its stadium and finance committees. The relocation of a franchise requires approval from three-quarters of the league's 32 owners.

The authority has until mid-2018 to attract an NFL team to Las Vegas to play in the proposed stadium, the Review Journal reported.

(Reporting by Brendan O'Brien in Milwaukee; Editing by Mark Potter)

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