
Could the Republican tax bill’s provision to eliminate tax breaks for cities and states that borrow money to build stadiums jeopardize the new Raiders stadium in Las Vegas? The NFL isn’t saying.
NFL spokesman Joe Lockhart said today that the league isn’t sure whether the tax bill could upend the plans to build a new home for the Raiders.
“That’s a hypothetical,” Lockhart said. “We’ll have to see where that goes.”
Still, the league will lobby Congress not to include that provision in the final bill. The league claims that building stadiums enhances economic development in the cities that house the stadiums, and that as a result, there should be federal tax breaks for stadium construction.
“That’s a provision we do oppose,” Lockhart said. “We will continue to make our opposition known on that.”
Construction has begun on Las Vegas Stadium, and the plan is for the Raiders to start playing there during the 2020 season.