An up-to-eight-figure public financing deal — part of an effort to build a new men’s basketball arena for the Nevada Wolf Pack — has drawn uproar from the region’s major casino players as it heads to a vote Wednesday before the Reno City Council.
The redevelopment project announced by the Grand Sierra Resort in 2023 involves building a new 10,000-seat multi-use arena and other improvements. The project looks to use a tax-increment financing (TIF) plan that would divert an estimated $68.1 million in tax revenue generated through the project’s life back to the casino to pay for the project’s costs.
Though other regional casinos have sought to sink the TIF plan, the project has a prominent proponent — UNR — which has an agreement with the Grand Sierra Resort (GSR) for the university’s men’s basketball team to play in the state-of-the-art arena.
