Final Roof Beam Installed At Raiders New Las Vegas Stadium
NAPA (CBS SF/AP) -- While the Oakland Raiders toiled in the August heat of California's Wine Country Monday, a major milestone was reached 587 miles away with the final roof beam of their new stadium being lowered into place.
Raiders owner Mark Davis took part in the ceremony, signing the beam as Nevada officials and construction workers cheered nearby.
Raiders team president Marc Badain also took time at the ceremony to announce that the $1.9 billion, 65,000-seat stadium complex now has a name -- Allegiant Stadium.
The naming rights have been purchased by Vegas-based Allegiant Travel -- the publicly traded corporate parent of Allegiant Air, a low-fare carrier with 55 nonstop routes in the U.S.
Company chairman and chief executive Maury Gallagher said in a statement the facility name will "amplify" the airline's focus on leisure and vacation travel and its own resort development in Florida.
Terms of the agreement weren't made public, but experts told the Review-Journal the deal might cost up to $25 million annually in cash and in-kind services.
The lionshare of he construction costs are coming from Nevada taxpayers, who are funding $750 million of the stadium, which will also host UNLV football and the collegiate Las Vegas Bowl game beginning in 2020.
The 2019 NFL season will be the last for the storied NFL franchise in Oakland.
