While the 2020 NFL season is drawing ever closer, it seems the progress on the Oakland Raiders’ new stadium is coming along slower than expected.
Las Vegas Stadium Co. COO Don Webb gave an update on the timeline last month indicating that all of the trusses would ideally need to be put up by July 31. Even if they were not, he did not show much concern about potentially having to delay opening day, which is encouraging since this would raise some obvious issues for the Raiders as they look to usher in a new era in Las Vegas.
The company started making strides on the $1.8 billion, 65,000-seat stadium when they officially installed the first of 52 truss columns back in September of 2018. It appears they still have yet to reach the halfway point.
According to Richard N. Velotta of the Las Vegas Review-Journal, Webb says the new stadium is 44% complete:
Nearly half the money is spent and construction work on the $1.8 billion, 65,000-seat Las Vegas stadium is closing in on the halfway point, a representative of Raiders said Wednesday.
Don Webb, chief operating officer of the Las Vegas Stadium Co., a subsidiary of the Oakland Raiders, said construction work is about 44 percent completed with opening day just over 14 months away.
The Raiders have certainly undergone their fair share of trouble with stadiums this offseason. At this point, it is safe to say that they can do without any setbacks on their future home in Las Vegas.
There had been plenty of speculation regarding where the team would play its home games in the 2019 NFL season. Although there had been reported interest in a number of venues, they wisely decided to spend their final season in Oakland at the Coliseum.
Regardless, it seems their new stadiums is not the only thing that is currently a work in progress. Although the Raiders have experienced quite a bit of turnover in their roster since Jon Gruden’s arrival, the expectations are still rather high going into the 2019 NFL season.
Oakland has been busy fortifying their personnel through free agency and the 2019 NFL Draft that saw them finally cash in on their three first-round picks. Fans have had little to hang their hat on as of late and they are hoping their patience during the disastrous 2018 campaign will finally pay off next season. The Raiders will have a year to figure things out both on and off the field.
