The Las Vegas Stadium Authority hopes to have a framework of the Raiders lease agreement approved before May 23rd.
That's when NFL owners are set to meet.
Raiders president Marc Badain told the Stadium Authority the team's lease agreement is already on the agenda for the league meeting that begins on the 22nd.
When asked what it would mean if the team didn't have a lease deal in place, Badain said it could push approval of the lease to the owners's meeting in October, therefore delaying the team's move from Oakland to Las Vegas until 2021.
Both sides seemed confident after three hours of discussion Thursday that things could be completed in the next 11 days.
Once the lease framework is done, the two sides would continue work on a dozen supporting documents that need to be finished by September to keep the project in line for an August 2020 opening.
"This will be a decision that basically, okay this is done, the papers are ready. Put it off to the side work on the other things and once we get all the other things done, then we can sign this lease," Stadium Authority Chairman Steve Hill said.
Those other documents included a shared use agreement between the Raiders and UNLV.
While the sides will have more time to work things out, the Raiders don't expect things to slow down.
“I think we are going to be getting a lot done for the next three years. I don’t think this pace is going to slow down. Once we get through this there are 12 or 13 agreements once we get past this one,” Badain said.
The team is also getting things in order to begin applying for the permits necessary to build the $1.9 billion stadium project.
Badain confirmed the team is working with the same stadium developer who built the Minnesota Vikings new stadium, but said they haven't finalized all of that paperwork yet.
The Stadium Authority is set to meet again on the 18th in hopes of finalizing the lease framework that would then be sent to NFL owners.
