Las Vegas stadium approved, Raiders fans await final vote

LAS VEGAS (KGO) -- Raiders fans are holding their breath, hoping a vote in Nevada doesn't crush their dreams of keeping the Silver and Black in the Bay Area.

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Concept sketches of a proposed Raiders stadium in Las Vegas: a domed 65,000 seat, $1.9 billion "field of dreams" that would be shared with University of Nevada at Las Vegas.

The Nevada Assembly is meeting in special session Thursday to debate a funding plan that the Senate approved Tuesday.

The Nevada Assembly is meeting in special session Thursday at 7 p.m. to debate a funding plan that the Senate approved Tuesday that includes $750 million from the public in the form of bonds that would be paid off with increased hotel taxes. The team would kick in another $500 million and a casino mogul would pick up the rest.

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Supporters say it would bring even more visitors and 14,000 new jobs to the area. Opponents call the stadium project "corporate welfare."

"A stadium like this fills really, the only remaining gap of the entertainment portfolio of southern Nevada," said Steve Hill, Director of the Governor's Office of Economics.

Assemblymember Ira Hansen, R-Clark County, said, "And the reliance on room tax to pay that bonding capacity back, if there is in fact a problem with that, it's going to fall back on the backs of Clark County taxpayers.

RELATED: NFL memo leaves door open for Raiders move to Las Vegas

It's too early for Bay Area Raiders fans to give up hope. Three quarters of NFL owners need to approve a franchise move and Oakland Mayor Libby Schaff is still leading an effort to craft a new stadium deal at the current coliseum location.

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