The behemoth.

I gave Fred, an associate from Arizona, the future home of the Las Vegas Raider's tour (right now it's an empty lot). He was in town for VIAD 2.0 last week - "You see this big empty lot on the corner up here. I want you to turn in there - I want to show you something." He makes the requested turn and now we are driving parallel to what currently is a 67 acre dirt lot located on Russell just west of the 15. "Take a good look at her Fred. In no less than three years time we will be staring directly at the grandest stadium in the world."

The Raiders are scheduled to move to Las Vegas at the beginning of the 2020 season. The timeline for stadium construction states a November 1st, 2017 start; with an estimated completion date of June 30th, 2020 - "So that's where the new stadium will be. How big of a lot did you say this was?" I told Fred what I read in the paper - "Sixty seven acres." He shakes his head for a minute and says - "It doesn't look like that much," he then takes a deeper look as we are circling the NW perimeter - "On second thought it's pretty long and extends back to the freeway. Yeah, I can see sixty seven acres here. But not much more. Where is everyone going to park?" The parking schematics for the future home of the Raiders states there is only room for 12,500 cars. NFL protocol states a minimum of 25,000 spots for game day parking - "They say they are either going to build up; trolley people in from the strip; or level the buildings around them for additional parking - I don't think they have quite figured it out yet."

As we are turning away from the site and headed west up Russell, I tell Fred, "You should see the renderings for this behemoth. It will truly be epic when this thing goes up. It will be really good for Las Vegas and I can't wait." Fred shakes his head and says - "They are all in it together. Now you will have the most powerful sports league in the world with a team set up across the street from the strip." I nod and say - "If it wasn't for Las Vegas the NFL wouldn't be what it is today, and now the NFL has finally accepted that. Besides, it will be fun to watch the Chief's play when the Raider's move to town. I live right down the road from the stadium."