The grass is always greener on the other side. And the saying is never more true than when it comes to NFL teams moving cities. Just ask the Rams and Chargers about their brand new stadium, which isn't opening up on time. The Raiders might have an even bigger issue when it comes to their new stadium in Las Vegas, because it appears that parking may be somewhat of a problem.
The Las Vegas Sun obtained a document the Raiders submitted to UNLV about joint usage of the stadium, and in the document are issues concerning how the Raiders will handle parking for the 65,000-seat stadium.
The biggest problem? The $1.9 billion stadium (fancy new renderings here) will only have room on the land next to the stadium for about 15 percent of those fans to park. That's a major, major issue.
The solution, according to these documents, is to use "nearly 80 acres of land" on the UNLV campus "for game-day and event parking, including the Thomas Mack Center lot and a 42-acre parcel near Tropicana Avenue and Koval Lane slated for mixed-use development."
The biggest problem with that solution? The Thomas Mack Center is roughly a full three miles away from the proposed stadium spot (our best guesstimate below).
Three miles is a pretty short stretch when you're in a car -- it would take just 11 minutes to drive from the parking lot to the stadium. Unfortunately you can't drive from the parking lot, because you're parking there.
So the fans who would be forced to park in the 4,000 or so spots at the Thomas Mack Center would need a shuttle to get to the actual Las Vegas Stadium. Three miles is an easy stretch to drive; it is a massive pain to shuttle if you're coming in and out of a football game.
As a fan you can't take tailgate supplies if you're facing a three-mile shuttle, because the NFL has pretty stringent rules about what can and what cannot be taken into a stadium. Anything you bring with you better be perishable (or perhaps drinkable).
On the bright side, fans who trek all the way to the stadium from UNLV's campus might at least be able to bet on sporting events from their seat.
