My Monday blog

John Kelly

Born Gambler
Staff member
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I'm calling the police to report a robbery in Las Vegas.

Not a pickpocketing charge on Las Vegas Boulevard nor one of those daring casino heists witnessed with alarming regularity over the past decade.

This theft did not take place at a certain time on a specific date.

Instead, the fraud was years in the making.

The white-collar crime involved the $1.9 billion Allegiant Stadium located along Interstate 15, just south of the Hacienda Avenue bridge.

After visiting the stadium this past Saturday to watch a college football game between UNLV and Idaho State, I question the project's enormous price tag and more specifically, the public financing of $750 million.

Three-quarters of a billion dollars is the largest pot of public money ever designated for a sports stadium.

More on the fleecing of the public later.

Admittedly, there's a lot to like about Allegiant Stadium.

There's the good-looking curvy dark glass exterior, the wide comfortable seats, the fan-friendly sightlines and the obvious cleanliness associated with any new stadium.

The domed roof is not retractable, but the field surface is.

Natural grass is rolled into the stadium on a "field tray" 48 hours before a Raiders game and rolled out shortly thereafter.

UNLV football plays on a different surface than their professional counterparts.

UNLV's FieldTurf surface is attached to the stadium floor, four feet below from where the grass field is wheeled into place.

However, with the Raiders playing a preseason game Friday night and UNLV playing its home opener Saturday afternoon, there was not enough time for the field swap.

UNLV and Idaho State competed on an NFL field.

The worn grass, hosting two games in a span of less than 24 hours, looked out of place amid the brand new surroundings.

Additionally, the dark seat backs -- some black and others more gray than silver -- gave a drab look to the building, especially on a day when fewer than 20,000 people filled the 65,000-seat stadium.

Back to the robbery.

Why steal $750 million from Nevada taxpayers when the National Football League features 32 teams with an average valuation of more than $4 billion apiece?

Why enrich NFL owners with state government subsidies when Carolina's David Alan Tepper and Kansas City's Hunt Family boast fortunes of more than $15 billion?

Why offer corporate welfare to a sports league that pays commissioner Roger Goodell $64 million per year?

Anyone with ties to the cash-strapped Clark County School District or any underperforming Nevada public school is heartbroken by the government's gift to the Las Vegas Raiders.

They would prefer the large sum of taxpayer money go directly to the state's education fund.

The NFL and Las Vegas Raiders somehow swindled $750 million from Nevada taxpayers at a time when the state's schools are rated dead-last (50 out of 50) in this country's K-12 educational rankings, according to Education Week.


UNLV 52 IDAHO STATE 21.....The Rebels led 45-7 at halftime.

UNLV head coach Marcus Arroyo pulled his starters at the break.

Sophomore quarterback Doug Brumfield, a lanky lefty listed at 6-6, completed 21 of 25 passes for 356 yards and four touchdown passes in just 30 minutes of football.

Idaho State outscored UNLV's backups, 14-7, over the game's final 30 minutes.

In college football mismatches, you often see favorites dominate underdogs in the first half with the underdog showing signs of life only when the game turns into a glorified scrimmage.


CROOKED NUMBERS.....As a dedicated totals bettor in Major League Baseball, I caution fellow gamblers from betting UNDER the team total of any Pittsburgh Pirates opponent.

Pittsburgh's pitching staff is simply awful.

The Pirates have the dubious distinction of leading MLB in the number of times they've surrendered five or more runs in a single inning.

The big innings already occurred 25 times this season and there are still 35 games left on the 2022 schedule.

This is old hat for fans of the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Pittsburgh's leaky pitching last season allowed five-plus runs in a single frame an MLB-high 28 times.

Paradoxically, a check of Pirates full-game totals since the start of the 2021 season shows a near 50/50 split between overs and unders.

The numbers show Pittsburgh surrenders plenty of runs while scoring very few.



HUMOR IN HANDICAPPING.....There's no truth to the nasty rumor that Dollar Loan Center once offered a large sum of money to sponsor "The J.K. Play of the Day" on Las Vegas radio.

Though yesterday I heard an even tighter connection between program content and sponsor product during a sports gambling show on the SportsGrid Radio Network, airing on Sirius XM Channel 159.

After poorly-prepared hosts Brian Ciano and Drew Martin previewed the important games on the Week 1 college football schedule -- mostly by reading from Phil Steele's football magazine -- the show went to a commercial break featuring The Final Expense Network.

The Final Expense Network
offers insurance for those who want to "die with dignity."

A disorganized sports betting show whose lead advertiser buries people.

Seems like a perfect fit to me.
 
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mrbowling300

EOG Dedicated
JK, great post as usual...my questions about Allegiant are as follows:

Seems like there is no immediate parking around the stadium, so if you drove where did you park?

Is there any easy way to get to the stadium by foot from Las Vegas BLVD?

Did you notice what concession prices were, or like a beer?

Finally, what did they do / or what are they planning to do with Sam Boyd Stadium?
 

Sportsrmylife

EOG Master
Sponsorship money must be tight.

Drew Martin is a regular host for wagertalk daily shows. His insight for his plays mirrors that of his audience.....trends and "I like this team tonight" with some "I'll take the better team" (no shit they are 7 pt favorites).
 

John Kelly

Born Gambler
Staff member
Drew Martin spoke with tremendous confidence.

Nothing worse than a cocky handicapper who doesn't offer much analysis.

I'd be shocked if he's able to break even, let alone win.
 

John Kelly

Born Gambler
Staff member
JK, great post as usual...my questions about Allegiant are as follows:

Seems like there is no immediate parking around the stadium, so if you drove where did you park?

Is there any easy way to get to the stadium by foot from Las Vegas BLVD?

Did you notice what concession prices were, or like a beer?

Finally, what did they do / or what are they planning to do with Sam Boyd Stadium?


I parked at Hooters and walked to Allegiant Stadium.

Domestic beers (Coors Light) were $12 and imported beers were priced at $14.

Single-shot cocktails were $16, doubles were $28.

A slice of pizza was $13.

As for Sam Boyd Stadium, the future of the stadium is still up in the air.
 

Heim

EOG Master
Excellent review. You get the real deal from a Vegas resident.

I can't remember how the financing worked. Bond? Additional hotel room tax?
 

John Kelly

Born Gambler
Staff member
Additional hotel room tax.

Occupants of hotel rooms within a 25-mile radius of the stadium pay an additional 0.88% tax, which amounts to an average of $1.50 per room.
 
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Rockfish

EOG Veteran
JK, great post as usual...my questions about Allegiant are as follows:

Seems like there is no immediate parking around the stadium, so if you drove where did you park?

Is there any easy way to get to the stadium by foot from Las Vegas BLVD?

Did you notice what concession prices were, or like a beer?

Finally, what did they do / or what are they planning to do with Sam Boyd Stadium?
Just to expand on what JK said about walking to Allegiant stadium. Hacienda Blvd. runs between Mandalay Bay and Luxor casino. On game days it is closed to auto traffic from the strip to the Stadium. Many thousands of people walk Hacienda from the strip to the stadium. After the game they walk back so Mandalay Bay, Luxor, And Excalibur get much of that foot traffic.

Luxor has game day parking. Don't know what they charge. Locals are not going to pay to park and do what JK did and park at a casino that doesn't charge and walk. Tourists walk from even like the Mirage hours before game time and visit other casinos along the way. Quite the experience.
 

Heim

EOG Master
Don't most hotels have a shuttle to the stadium?

I received a football package deal yesterday from South Point puffing a shuttle service.
 

John Kelly

Born Gambler
Staff member
What are the odds the A’s move to town?

Feels inevitable.

Of course, the A's would love a sweetheart stadium deal similar to what the Raiders were gifted.

Major League Baseball last week waived heavy relocation fees if the A's move to Las Vegas, a telltale sign MLB wants a franchise in southern Nevada.

Hard to believe: Of the four major pro sports, the NBA will be the last to arrive in Las Vegas.

And Las Vegas, with UNLV leading the way, is/was a fabulous basketball city for the past 50 years.

What were the odds that the NHL would be the first professional sports team in Las Vegas, followed by the NFL, and then likely MLB and finally the NBA?
 

John Kelly

Born Gambler
Staff member
Attendance for Saturday's UNLV game was announced at 19,579.

I'll bet UNDER for the limit.

I'd guess between 10,000 and 12,000.
 
As a fellow Las Vegas resident, I disagree with your assessment of the AL. While on the surface the stadium was built for the Raiders, Vegas needed a large event venue to push them into a viable city to host the grandest sporting events. Super Bowl, CFB Final, Sweet 16 bids, Int'l soccer are all attracting huge numbers of visitors who in turn are generating taxable revenue for Clark County. This week software giant Cisco has rented out Allegiant for their corporate event. Midweek rooms filled that otherwise would not have.

As for CCSD, money is not the problem. As with any publicly run entity, it's like a pig at the trough. An over administrated, bloated and mismanaged government agency.
 

John Kelly

Born Gambler
Staff member
Good point about the poorly-run Clark County School District, Cow.

Talk to a random Las Vegas teenager in the community and you'll be shocked at the lack of class and intelligence.

Unless, of course, a kid's parents can afford a private school like Bishop Gorman.
 
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