UNLV can use Las Vegas Raiders stadium parking lots, agreement shows

It appears the UNLV athletic department is getting everything it wished for in its Joint-Use Agreement with the Oakland Raiders for the new Las Vegas stadium.

Artificial playing surface.

Branded locker room.

And parking and revenue from parking. UNLV will have access to stadium parking lots, on and offsite, and collect parking fees from them during UNLV events. Now, all that’s needed are the lots themselves.

Those details are among the contents of a 62-page agreement and a three-page summary released in advance of a special Nevada Board of Regents meeting Jan. 4.

Parking issues are among the topics addressed in the agreement, but parking also is one of the areas the Raiders have not resolved. County codes require the Raiders to provide 16,250 parking spaces for stadium events, but there’s only room for about 2,400 on the 62 acres the team purchased for the stadium at Interstate 15 and Russell Road.

The Raiders are continuing to talk with private landholders in an effort to solve the parking issue and at one point asked UNLV to make lots available for parking on game days. UNLV rejected the idea, noting that home games could occasionally occur on Mondays, Thursdays and even Saturdays when students need all available parking.

Key to development deal

At the public meeting, regents will get their first look at a draft of the agreement between the board on behalf of UNLV and LV Stadium Events Co., a subsidiary of the Oakland Raiders that is building the 65,000-seat domed football stadium. The regents, the Raiders and the Las Vegas Stadium Authority must sign off on the agreement, a key element of a final stadium development agreement expected to be completed in February.

The regents are expected to ask questions about the joint-use agreement Jan. 4, then consider its approval Jan. 19.

Regent Trevor Hayes said Thursday he hasn’t read through the entire agreement yet but said he will be going through every comma and period of the document between now and Jan. 4 to ensure that he does not have any concerns.

“I’m pleased that UNLV and the Raiders have come together with an agreement that they both seem proud of,” Hayes said. “I look forward to hearing more about it and seeing how the rest of the board feels next week.”

Attorneys for UNLV, the Raiders, UNLV President Len Jessup, Athletic Director Desiree Reed-Francois and Thom Reilly, chancellor of the Nevada System of Higher Education, have been working on the joint-use agreement since summer.

“This draft Joint Use Agreement is the result of ongoing negotiations, which began in June,” Reed-Francois said. “It has been submitted as an information item to our Board of Regents for their review and will be considered for their approval at a subsequent meeting later in January.”

Reilly said that NSHE will not comment, in agreement with the Raiders, on the draft resolution until after it is presented to the board next week.

Jessup was unavailable for comment Thursday, according to a university spokeswoman.

Some of the key elements of the draft agreement:

■ UNLV will have access to onsite and offsite stadium parking and tailgating lots, which will be administered by the Raiders with net proceeds of parking sales going to UNLV.

■ The agreement specifically notes that no portion of UNLV’s property will be used by the Stadium Events company for parking for Raiders home games or other stadium events.

Advertising

■ UNLV has the right to sell temporary advertising and sponsorships at all stadium locations, including field boards, banners and audio-visual signage for display during UNLV events and to collect all revenue.

■ Permanent signage will be installed at each of the building entrances indicating that the stadium is the home of UNLV football.

■ The Raiders will control all concessions at the stadium, but net concession revenue from UNLV events will belong to UNLV.

■ UNLV will schedule its conference games and two nonconference games at the stadium with an emphasis on attracting Power 5 opponents for the nonconference games. Raiders home games and NFL games will have priority on scheduling, and the Raiders and UNLV will meet regularly to handle scheduling adjustments.

■ UNLV will be able to use either its own ticketing or Raiders ticketing systems, and if the Raiders’ system is used, handling and service charges will not exceed those amounts included in comparably priced tickets for other stadium events. All net revenue from tickets will belong to UNLV.

■ The Raiders will provide and pay for an artificial turf field for UNLV’s use. The Raiders will repair, maintain, store and switch out the artificial turf field at its expense, but UNLV will be responsible for the cost of obtaining, repairing, storing and switching out the midfield logo, end zones and other portions of the field containing customized “UNLV” or other home field markings. The Raiders already have indicated they will play on a grass surface grown outside and wheeled into the stadium for game days.

Locker room

■ UNLV will get its own locker room in the stadium and provide design comments to builders on its furnishings and look, including branding it with UNLV colors and logos.

■ UNLV will be able to collect up to $3.5 million a year for 10 years from the Stadium Authority to offset revenue streams previously available at Sam Boyd Stadium but no longer possible in the new stadium.

The agreement has a 30-year term, the same time frame the Raiders would have with the Stadium Authority, and would begin when the stadium opens.

Review-Journal writer Natalie Bruzda contributed to this report. Contact Richard N. Velotta at rvelotta@reviewjournal.com or 702-477-3893. Follow @RickVelotta on Twitter. Contact Natalie Bruzda at nbruzda@reviewjournal.com or 702-477-3897. Follow @NatalieBruzda on Twitter.