NFL American football franchise the Raiders have sold all available personal seat licenses (PSLs) for their move to Allegiant Stadium, generating $228m (£174.7m/€205.2m) more than was originally projected as stadium officials maintained the new Las Vegas venue will open on time amid concerns over its roof.
The 65,000-seat stadium has issued PSLs for close to 90% of its capacity. Prices ranged from $500 to $75,000 for the licenses, which grants the purchaser exclusive rights to buy Raiders home game season tickets for a particular seat. The PSL fee is only due once, with fans then needing to renew their season tickets each campaign.
The Raiders will move from Oakland to the new venue and team officials had originally targeted $250m from PSL sales. However, the Las Vegas Stadium Authority said this figure has reached $478m as sales closed. Around 60% of the PSLs have been acquired by Nevada residents, with most of the remainder purchased by fans in the Raiders’ current home state of California.
The Las Vegas Review-Journal said the additional revenue generated by the PSLs will go towards further enhancing the stadium, with new features such as additional suites, a 26,000-square-foot field-level club, upgraded fixtures and art and an enhanced internet connection.
Earlier this week, it was reported that a delay in installing the new roof at the under-construction stadium may put back the completion date for the project. The $1.97bn venue currently has a July 31 target date before the University of Nevada, Las Vegas American football team is scheduled to play there on August 29, September 5 and September 12.
This week’s reports had pointed to a December report from Grand Canyon Development Partners, a company serving as an independent monitor on the construction project. Grand Canyon had suggested that the timeline could be affected owing to issues concerning placement of the cable net system required to support the stadium’s translucent roof.
Las Vegas Stadium Authority met yesterday (Thursday), with chief operating officer, Don Webb, hitting back at any suggestion of a major delay. “Because Allegiant Stadium is an enormous, high-profile project with unprecedented public scrutiny, any construction hiccup becomes exaggerated throughout social media and the press,” Webb said, according to the Las Vegas Sun newspaper. “The unfortunate newspaper headlines earlier this week, based upon an excerpt from a report from the stadium authority’s construction representative, is an example.”
Webb said the issue related to a connection to a canopy being used that had been “overstressed,” causing a “handful” of bolts to break late last year. “We’re talking about literally a handful of bolts in a structure that has more than a half-million similar bolts,” Webb said. “Nobody was injured and the structure was never in jeopardy of failure.”
Webb said work on the cable net system resumed last week, with the placement of the roof now expected to finish in May. This is about a month later than originally scheduled, but Webb maintained it will have no impact on the overall timeline.
Grand Canyon project executive Tony Cosentino expressed his confidence that the cable net issue has been solved, adding that the company is “comfortable” that Allegiant Stadium will be complete by July 31.
Image: Raiders
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