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Allegiant Stadium budget to increase again

The budget for the under-construction Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas has increased by a further $90m (£72.6m/€81.7m), bringing the total cost of the project to $1.97bn.

The state-of-the-art stadium will serve as the home of the Oakland Raiders NFL American football team once it is finished next year. The latest budget increase was presented yesterday (Monday) during the monthly meeting of the Las Vegas Stadium Authority Board.

The 3 News Las Vegas website reported that $58m of the $90m sum will be put towards suite, event space and food service upgrades. A further $20m would be set aside for marketing purposes, while $12m would be given to ‘project contingencies’.

According to 3 News Las Vegas, the additional costs would be covered by the Raiders, the team’s stadium subsidiary and, potentially, third parties, with the public not set to foot the bill. The new budget has been backed by Steve Hill, chairman of the authority board, but he has sought verification on the source of the revenue before approving it.

The latest development comes after the budget for the project was increased to $1.88bn in May due to the success of commercial sales for the venue. Don Webb, chief operating officer of the Las Vegas Stadium Co., stressed at the time that this was not due to cost overruns but instead because of revenue generated by the likes of personal seat licenses, stadium suites, club seats and sponsorships.

Las Vegas-based travel company Allegiant signed on as the naming-rights sponsor of the 65,000-seat stadium last month. Terms of the deal were not disclosed but reports suggested that Allegiant is likely to pay the Raiders between $20m and $25m a year in cash and in-kind services.

Image: Allegiant