Outclassed: Las Vegas A’s Stadium Funding Ballot Measure Denied
Extra inning heroics seems to have fallen short. The political action committee Schools Over Stadiums has been fighting to have a Las Vegas A’s stadium funding ballot measure in front of voters to either approve or deny giving $380 million public funds to the Athletics. The Nevada Supreme Court has said the attempt has struck out.
The ruling came down Monday with the majority of judges – five in total – voting to uphold an earlier, lower court ruling striking down the Las Vegas A’s stadium funding ballot measure.
Why The Las Vegas A’s Stadium Funding Ballot Measure Was Proposed
If you look around, you see public funds (and low tax rates) benefitting major corporations that could afford to foot the bill entirely. Allegiant Stadium is a prime example. The stadium ran $750 million in public funds, raised by a tax on tourists who stay in town. As though they don’t face enough fees.
If the funding doesn’t get paid by tourists, we have to dip into the reserves. We had to do that right off the bat due in part to the COVID pandemic.
Now, it goes without saying that Allegiant Stadium has been a huge success. The Las Vegas Raiders only play in the stadium about a dozen games a year (or less). That leaves a slew of open dates for massive events which have filled the stadium to the gills. That project seems to be potentially paying for itself.
The Athletics move to Las Vegas hinges upon $180 million in state funding and $200 million in county funding. That’s a lot of scratch. Not to mention the team will be in the stadium for 81 games a year, which leaves far fewer dates available in a venue that few “stadium tours” are willing to take over. Projections to pay back what the state and county is footing will require near sell-outs every game. The math doesn’t math.
Meanwhile, Nevada students have very little money dedicated to them. According to World Population Review, Nevada spends the 4th least money per student in the nation, spending half as much as other states which tend to have far better results.
That’s the point of the Schools Over Stadiums PAC and the reason they want a Las Vegas A’s stadium funding ballot measure in front of voters. Voters who, it seems, aren’t too keen on giving multi-billionaire Athletics owner John Fisher a fork lift filled with Benjamins.
Fisher Could Fund It On His Own Simply By Moving To Las Vegas
You might think John Fisher could fund this all by himself today. That might not be so true. He’s been a little wishy-washy on how he’ll foot his end of the bill. From his own pocket? Finding investors?
Perhaps if he believes so much in the ability of the team to perform well in Las Vegas, he should foot the bill. Raiders owner Mark Davis saw his net worth more than quadruple since announcing the team was moving to the valley. The same will likely ring true for any other even slightly well run franchise.
It’s Not Over For Schools Over Stadiums, Says Schools Over Stadiums
While this feels like a death blow for the PAC attempting to get a Las Vegas A’s stadium funding ballot measure in front of voters, they say their aim is for 2026.
However by then the project will very likely have shovels in the dirt. So the likelihood of that measure panning out is low.
At this point the only thing between the A’s stadium funding and reality is the organization’s own incompetence. Don’t put it past them.
