Allegiant Stadium
Allegiant Stadium is an indoor multi-purpose stadium in Paradise, Nevada, U.S., southwest of adjacent Las Vegas. Opened in 2020, it is the home field of the Las Vegas Raiders of the National Football League and the University of Nevada, Las Vegas Rebels college football team. The stadium also hosts the Vegas Kickoff Classic in early September and the Las Vegas Bowl in December. The stadium hosted Super Bowl LVIII in 2024 and WrestleMania 41 in 2025; it is set to host WrestleMania 42 in 2026 and will host the College Football Playoff National Championship in 2027.
Allegiant Stadium is located on about of land west of Mandalay Bay at Russell Road and Hacienda Avenue, between Polaris Avenue and Dean Martin Drive, just west of Interstate 15. At $1.9 billion, it is among the most expensive stadiums in the world. Construction of the stadium began on November 13, 2017. Allegiant Stadium is indoors with a translucent roof made of ETFE, allowing for climate control and natural sunlight. The stadium has been nicknamed the "Death Star" in reference to the Star Wars franchise.
Design
For Allegiant Stadium, Raiders owner Mark Davis retained the same architecture firm, MANICA Architecture, that had designed the previously proposed Carson Stadium near Los Angeles. Davis retained much of the look from the Carson stadium because he "fell in love with the overall design of it".Allegiant Stadium is a ten-level domed stadium featuring an ETFE roof, silver and black exterior with light-up strips installed by YESCO, a media mesh video screen facing Interstate 15, and large retractable curtain-like side windows facing the Las Vegas Strip. The north endzone area in front of the retractable windows contains the Al Davis memorial torch, a large torch that houses a flame in honor of Al Davis, the late longtime owner of the Raiders. In 2019, the torch was reported to be the largest 3D printed object in the world.
The stadium has a roll-in natural Bermuda grass field similar to the one at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona, which is primarily used for NFL games. The main advantages of such a configuration are that it allows the natural playing surface to be exposed to natural sunlight when not in use and allows other events to be held at the facility without any risk of damage to the grass. Unlike the Arizona facility, Allegiant Stadium also has an artificial turf field, which is primarily used for college football games. This design was chosen because UNLV prefers to play on an artificial turf surface, and also due to concerns that use of the grass field by two teams would cause excessive wear to the playing surface. The artificial turf is placed directly on the stadium's concrete floor, and is rolled up and stored under the stadium when the tray is rolled in.
There are 2,700 parking spots surrounding the stadium and 6,000 in proximity to it. More than 35,000 parking spaces are located within a mile of Allegiant Stadium.
History
Planning and approval
In January 2016, reports emerged that Las Vegas Sands was considering developing a stadium in conjunction with Majestic Realty and UNLV, on a site on Tropicana Avenue owned by UNLV. UNLV had been in the market for a new stadium to replace Sam Boyd Stadium since at least 2011.Raiders owner Mark Davis visited Las Vegas on January 29, 2015, to tour the site and meet with Sands chairman Sheldon Adelson and other local figures. The Raiders, who had been trying to get a new stadium built for the team since the 1980s, had just missed out on relocating to Los Angeles that same month with the Rams and Chargers moving into a new stadium in Inglewood, California, and were at an impasse in Oakland. In order for the team to relocate to Las Vegas, a new stadium was required, since Sam Boyd Stadium was undersized for the NFL and there were no other professional-caliber stadiums in Nevada. The Raiders had previously played a preseason game in Las Vegas at Cashman Field against the Houston Oilers during the 1964 American Football League preseason and owner Al Davis considered relocating the team there.
On March 21, 2016, when asked about Las Vegas, Davis said, "I think the Raiders like the Las Vegas plan," and "it's a very very very intriguing and exciting plan." Davis also met with Nevada Governor Brian Sandoval about the stadium plan. On April 1, 2016, Davis met with UNLV officials and toured Sam Boyd Stadium to evaluate whether it could serve as a temporary home for the team.
On April 28, 2016, Davis said he wanted to move the Raiders to Las Vegas and pledged $500 million toward constructing the proposed $1.4-billion domed stadium. "Together we can turn the Silver State into the silver and black state," Davis said.
In the spring of 2016, the board of directors of Las Vegas Sands rejected Adelson's stadium proposal. Adelson decided to move ahead with the stadium as an individual investment, pledging $650 million of his personal wealth to the project.
The viability of the Tropicana Avenue site was called into serious question in June 2016, when Southwest Airlines objected to the location because its proximity to the northern end of one of Harry Reid International Airport's runways could negatively affect the safety and capacity of air traffic at the airport. The list of potential locations soon expanded to nine candidates, including the sites of the Wild Wild West casino, the Wynn golf course, the Riviera casino, the Las Vegas Festival Grounds, and Cashman Center. By September, the list was narrowed to two possibilities: the Bali Hai Golf Club, south of Mandalay Bay, and a vacant lot on Russell Road, just west of Interstate 15.
On August 25, 2016, the Raiders filed a trademark application for "Las Vegas Raiders" on the same day renderings of a proposed stadium design were released. On September 15, 2016, the Southern Nevada Tourism Infrastructure Committee unanimously voted to recommend and approve $750 million for the Las Vegas stadium plan.
Majestic Realty revealed in October 2016 that it had withdrawn from the stadium project.
In October 2016, Sandoval called a special session of the Nevada Legislature to consider the stadium and other tourism-related proposals. The funding bill for the stadium was approved by a 16–5 vote in the Senate and by 28–13 in the Assembly, and was signed into law by Sandoval on October 17. The bill allowed Clark County to increase its hotel tax to raise the $750 million in funding.
File:Interstate 15 and the Las Vegas Strip, Las Vegas, Nevada.jpg|thumb|left|2013 view of the stadium site, adjacent to Mandalay Bay and Interstate 15.
The Raiders filed relocation papers on January 19 to move from Oakland to Las Vegas. On January 26, 2017, the Raiders submitted a proposed lease agreement for the stadium. It was reported that the Raiders had selected the Russell Road site as the stadium location, the team would pay one dollar in rent, and that they could control the naming rights for both the stadium and plaza and in addition keep signage sponsorship revenue.
Days after the Raiders' announced proposal, Adelson dropped out of the stadium project, pulling his proposed $650 million contribution. Shortly after this announcement, Goldman Sachs, which had planned to finance part of the project, withdrew as well. As a result, the Raiders were expected to increase their contribution from $500 million to $1.15 billion.
On March 6, the Raiders revealed Bank of America would lend $650 million to replace the Adelson portion of the funding.
NFL owners voted to approve the move by a margin of 31–1 on March 27. The next day, the Raiders and the Las Vegas Stadium Authority began accepting deposits for season tickets for the new stadium. The Raiders announced that they planned to remain in Oakland until the stadium was complete.
The Raiders closed the purchase of the land for the stadium at the Russell Road site on May 1. The purchase price was reported at $77.5 million. On May 11, it was announced that in a joint venture Mortenson Construction and McCarthy Construction would be the developers for the stadium. Mortenson previously worked on U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis. The stadium authority approved a stadium lease with the Raiders on May 18. The lease was to be for 30 years with four successive extension options of five years each.
Construction
On September 18, 2017, construction activity began on the stadium site with site preparation. A groundbreaking ceremony was held on November 13. The ceremony featured NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell, Raiders owner Mark Davis, his mother Carol Davis, various Raiders legends including Howie Long, Jim Plunkett, Tom Flores and Ray Guy, Las Vegas and Nevada politicians such as Governor Brian Sandoval, Las Vegas Mayor Carolyn Goodman, Clark County Commissioner Steve Sisolak and stadium authority head Steve Hill. The event was hosted by George Lopez and included other celebrities including Carlos Santana, longtime Vegas icon Wayne Newton, and Howie Dorough and Nick Carter of the Backstreet Boys. It also featured a tribute to the victims of the nearby 2017 Las Vegas shooting, including a performance by Judith Hill and the Las Vegas House of Blues Gospel Choir performing 'Rise up' and the lighting of 58 beams of light, symbolizing the 58 victims who were killed in the attack.In January, construction crews began blasting caliche rock with dynamite to excavate and create the stadium bowl.
During construction in December 2017, a construction worker "buried a Kansas City Chiefs flag near what expected to be the 50-yard line of the new Raiders stadium".
On August 27, Clark County gave the stadium a new address, rechristening it from its original 5617 Dean Martin Drive address to 3333 Al Davis Way.
On May 24, 2019, it was announced that 20 additional suites would be added to the stadium in the south end zone, with six suites on the main concourse and 14 suites in the lower suite level, one section above the main concourse. The suites were added in an effort to make the stadium more attractive for a Super Bowl.
On January 27, 2023, the Raiders announced additional suites would be added on the 100 level sidelines in advance of the 2023 season and in preparation for hosting Super Bowl LVIII in 2024.