Some enterprising reportage by the website SportsBiz.com recently identified the amount that visitors to Las Vegas have left to pay off on Clark County’s $750 million commitment of public funds to help build Allegiant Stadium for the Raiders. That debt is being shouldered by tourists, including locals taking staycations, through a state-approved hotel room tax.
A.I. renders Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas sitting atop a giant stack of cash. (Image: ChatGPT)
SportzBiz.com headlined its article “Congrats, Las Vegas/Clark County: You’re Only $1,178,161,041 From Paying Off Your Raiders Stadium Debt.”
That’s because a 2016 state bill authorized the $750 million to be raised by government-issued bonds. This is the equivalent of paying off a 30-year loan with an interest rate of 3.94%.
This schedule shows the amount that Las Vegas visitors will have paid, in principal and interest, every year from 2019 to 2048, for the construction of Allegiant Stadium. (Image: SportsBiz.com)
From 2019 through last year, SportsBiz.com notes, that debt amounted to just short of $13 million in principal and just over $163 million in interest.
By the time the debt is paid off in 2048, the total bill to taxpayers will be $1,354,215,804.
That’s only $46 million less than Allegiant Stadium’s $1.4 billion construction budget.
Many critics argue that hotel room taxes should instead go toward improving Nevada’s public education system, which the Guinn Center for Policy Priorities ranked 46th in the nation in 2023.
Unexpected Shortfall
During the COVID-19 pandemic, when visitor volume to Las Vegas plummeted 55%, hotel room taxes alone didn’t even cut it. In November 2020 and May 2021, Clark County had to tap into contingency funds to cover more than $32 million.
The Raiders also contributed $600 million to construct their NFL stadium.
Clark County is not expected to be done paying off bond debts on stadiums anytime soon, either. It already approved $380 million toward helping billionaire John Fisher build a $1.5 billion new stadium for his Oakland Athletics baseball team.
That includes $120 million in Clark County bonds.
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