Former Raider welcomes team to his hometown after fighting stadium deal

By Chris Kudialis

Tuesday, April 11, 2017 | 2 a.m.

Before Las Vegas native Frank Hawkins served on the Las Vegas City Council, founded a nonprofit affordable house-building company, became the president of the city’s NAACP chapter and opened a medical marijuana dispensary, he was punishing defenders as a fullback for the NFL’s Raiders.

Hawkins spent one season with the franchise in Oakland in 1981 before it moved to Los Angeles, living through the relocation that will be a reality in three years when the franchise comes to Las Vegas.

It wasn’t always easy in Los Angeles.

“In L.A. they come late and leave early,” said Hawkins, who was part of the Raiders’ 1983 Super Bowl championship team. “If you don’t win they don’t come in at all.”

The biggest hurdle for players was moving their families to a new city. The biggest hurdle for the franchise was developing a new fan base — something Hawkins, who spent seven years with the organization, doesn’t see happening when they arrive here in 2020.

Hawkins, who owns Nevada Wellness Center marijuana dispensary, 3200 S. Valley View Blvd, is confident his hometown will fill up the proposed $1.9 billion, 65,000-seat capacity stadium.

“Corporate is going to be a huge part of ticket sales,” he said. “I even have some concern that the average fan will be priced out. But people are going to do everything they can to be there for the games.”

While the ex-Raider says he’s happy the franchise is coming, he was one of the chief opponents of public funding for the stadium. He argued that $750 million in public money would impose “too heavy” of a burden on taxpayers.

He added that dedicating public funds could leave Clark County heavily in debt should the Raiders eventually leave town, and compared it to hundreds of millions of dollars still owed by St. Louis for its departed NFL franchise.

Hawkins spoke on the record against Senate Bill 1, which authorized the stadium to be built, during last October’s special legislative session.

He wished the Raiders’ stadium deal mirrored that of the Vegas Golden Knights, whose home at T-Mobile Arena was built with privately funded dollars in a partnership between MGM Resorts International and Anschutz Entertainment Group.

“I was very supportive as long as the private business was paying 100 percent,” he said. “But I didn’t like this deal because I’m a taxpayer. If I wasn’t a taxpayer, I wouldn’t care.”

Hawkins, who played college football at UNR, also worries UNLV will be "left out.” Rebel football will share the stadium with the Raiders — the agreement still must be finalized.

“Their statement was, ‘We’ll take care of (UNLV) later,’” he said. “Well, I’ve been in business a long time and I’ve been in politics and that means they’re not going to get taken care of.”

Despite his grievances with the stadium funding, Hawkins said now that a relocation is approved, he’s on board.

“When it’s all said and done, this is going to be a good investment for both Mark Davis and Las Vegas,” he said.