Trick or treat, the ultimate Mark Davis nightmare.
Imagine a scenario where the stadium deal in Las Vegas crumbles. Then imagine a possible deal in Oakland falls apart. That double possibility crept into the Oakland Raiders stadium conversation late last night.
First there have been reports all week about a new investment group, Fortress Investment. They submitted a term sheet, last week, to the Oakland City Council and Alameda County Board of Supervisors. The Ronnie Lott Group brought them in to replace Egbert Perry, who they parted ways with last month.
That term sheet had a lot of possible options for keeping the Raiders in Oakland. However yesterday David DeBolt reported that Alameda county Supervisor Nate Miley expressed serious concerns.
“Too much would be asked of the taxpayers. I don’t think the taxpayers would feel comfortable with the terms. That’s the most I want to say.”
It’s Halloween Season: The Ultimate Mark Davis Nightmare Scenario
Wait it gets better.
Sheldon Adelson says he could live with or without the stadium deal, threatens to walk!
On the 17th of October Governor Brian Sandoval signed SB-1. This bill approved $750 million in public funds for a stadium in Las Vegas. Actually it was Clark County for those keeping score. However that bill almost fell apart at the last minute. The Las Vegas Review Journal “accidentally” reported almost $900 million had been set aside for infrastructure. And who owns that company, but none other than Sheldon Adelson.
Mistake or negotiation tactic? You decide.
That is not all. Adelson told Yahoo Finance on September 8th that he expected a peace of the Raiders. A Stake. This came about because the stadium proposal had to cut a tax kickback, worth $25 million annually, to get a recommendation by the SNTIC. That was money that would have guaranteed Adelson his 15% return on investment. For those who missed the SNTIC meetings, Sands executives mentioned that 15% number multiple times.
Based on economic projections, Adelson will only get a 5% return on his investment, without getting a better revenue split from Mark Davis. These negotiations have been ongoing, but last night it heated up once again.
In a Reuters Exclusive, Adelson threatened to walk away from the stadium deal.
“They want so much. So I told my people, ‘Tell them I could live with the deal, I could live without the deal. Here’s the way it’s gonna go down. If they don’t want it, bye-bye,'”
Seeing a pattern here?
Adelson loves negotiating through the media.
Now I have spoken to a few people close to this story and they have reiterated that Mark Davis and the NFL have gone too far to allow this deal to fall part and that they still believe that this deal will happen. That being said, they do have contingencies I am told.
What those are they would not elaborate on. My guess would be the Fertitta Brothers, of Stations Casinos, steps up, or maybe Steve Wynn.
All that said, imagine a scenario where both the Las Vegas Deal and the Oakland deal fall apart.
That would be a Mark Davis nightmare of epic proportions. Of course the die hard fans in Oakland would rejoice!
