The ALL NET Resort & Arena

It’s a Slam-Dunk! The ALL NET Resort & Arena is Scheduled to Open in 2025!

BY JOAN S. PECK

Hope springs eternal, and Jackie Robinson is proof of that. A family-friendly destination, ALL NET Resort & Arena is being built on a premium 27-acre site on the north end of the fabulous Las Vegas Strip. It is being developed by Dribble Dunk, LLC, owned by businessman and former NBA and UNLV standout basketball player Jackie Robinson, and designed by Cuningham.

ALL NET Resort & Arena will establish Las Vegas as a professional sporting event destination by providing the city with a one-of-a-kind venue to host world-renowned events. There will be something for everyone at ALL NET Resort & Arena, from premier luxury suites to breathtaking designed rooms for the value-minded guest. You’ll walk from your room to your favorite entertainment event, treat yourself at one of the exclusive retail shops, or enjoy spectacular rooftop dining surrounded by a lavish pool.

The resort has been in the making since December 2013, when Jackie Robinson announced the project with the initial plan to open in December 2016 (costing $1.3 billion). However, since then, the resort has had its setbacks. The project cost has increased several times, and construction has been delayed repeatedly because of difficulty in acquiring construction funds.

Jackie Robinson

A groundbreaking ceremony was held on October 29, 2014, but preparation work on the site did not begin until early 2017. The property consisted of an excavated hole for the next several years while Jackie Robinson sought financing.

In October 2020, the Clark County Commission granted a final six-month extension for the project to finalize agreements with the county, and some work resumed on the site. On September 20, 2022, the necessary financing came forth, and the $4.9 billion project is expected to be finished by late 2025 – a venue well worth waiting for!

For many of us who live in Las Vegas, a new casino & resort is not that rare. So what will make ALL NET Resort & Arena so unique and welcoming? Let me introduce you to Jackie Robinson, the visionary behind this beautiful, inspiring extravaganza.

I had no idea what to expect when I met Jackie Robinson, but I was pleasantly surprised when I did. Jackie is a calm man at peace with himself … a kind man … a thoughtful man … a man with heart.

At the age of eight, the head of the YMCA, tossed a young kid, born and living in Los Angeles, a basketball. “Here, go play.” With that, Jackie Robinson’s love and talent for playing basketball began and grew.

Times weren’t always easy for Jackie growing up in a poorer neighborhood with seven siblings, nor was it easy for his mother. Yet, his mother’s belief that “God wants the best for everyone” was instilled in him with the confidence that he could be the best.

Basketball and sports became his life for the years of his youth. In 8th grade, Jackie belonged to the Chuck Boyd club and traveled with it throughout southern California, playing the game he loved.

Yet, basketball was not the only sport where Jackie shined. His love of sports included track, where he went to the state finals in high school, competing in the 100 – 200 meters races.

When Jackie graduated from Morningside high school, UNLV was searching for greater exposure and wanted to form a basketball team. He was recruited by none other than Sammy Davis, Jr., who, at that time, was still not allowed in the casinos as a black man. Jackie joined UNLV as a 6’6” forward and became a top performer and star of the basketball team for the four years he was there.

A standout basketball player at UNLV, Jackie was drafted by the Houston Rockets. He won an NBA Championship with Seattle SuperSonics and played for the Detroit Pistons and Chicago Bulls before retiring from professional basketball.
Afterward, Jackie played five years in Europe and, upon retirement, held executive positions in several Las Vegas companies that worked in retail, real estate, construction, credit, and the food and beverage industries.

When Jackie was working as a captain at the Aladdin Casino, he saw Sammy Davis, Jr. looking sick and unwell. Jackie approached him to say hello and ask him if he remembered the kid he had recruited for UNLV. Sammy told him he had throat cancer and said, “I was hoping I would live long enough to see a Black man own a casino on the strip.” Today, when Jackie remembers that, he is filled with a sense of knowing that Sammy Davis, Jr. is smiling.

Jackie Robinson was the owner and operating manager of the Las Vegas Silver Bandits, a semi-professional basketball team in the International Basketball League (IBL) and the Las Vegas Slam of the American Basketball Association. As Chairman/CEO and Operating Manager of RLW Inc., he was the 52nd largest minority employer in the United States with 3500 employees and more than half-billion dollars in sales.

By 2008, Jackie Robinson and real estate veteran Michael Bellon had teamed up to develop a multibillion-dollar project on Bulloch and Gaffin’s property, Elysium. It called for condos and hotel rooms, a dome-covered ocean-beach swimming complex, and more. It was to be located on the southeast of the Las Vegas Strip. Then the “Great Recession” hit and the opportunity was lost. But like most everything, when one door closes and another opens, it is often for the better.

And now, ALL NET Resort & Arena is happening at an even better location.

After spending time with Jackie Robinson, I knew his project would be unique because it would have heart, and I was thrilled. ALL NET Resort & Arena would not be another casino calling tourists to visit and spend their money. It is going to be so much more. What do I mean by that?

ALL NET’s goal is to construct a facility that will combine sporting events and entertainment with corporate promotions to provide visitors with an exhilarating and memorable experience enhanced by technological innovations.

And yes, it is no surprise that Las Vegas, the world’s entertainment capital, is vying for a chance to expand its offering. The NBA is considering expanding its league to include other cities, with Seattle and Las Vegas at the forefront of being considered as the next NBA cities. Jackie Robinson said, “Would we like to have an NBA team? Absolutely. Will we be deterred if we don’t? No.”

So, what can we expect at the All Net? The fabulous features will include the following:

• Multi-Purpose 23,000 Seat Arena for Basketball and 25,000 for Concerts and Boxing with a Retractable Roof and a Matrix of LED Screens for dramatic visual experiences.]
• 500-Room Five-Star Luxury Spa Hotel
• 70 Story, 2,000-Room Hotel Tower
• Spectacular Rooftop Dining surrounded by a Lavish Pool
• 275,000 sq. ft. Convention Center
• Victory Plaza, a 400,000 square-foot Food and Retail Plaza with Exclusive Retail Shops
• World-Class Restaurants and Nightclubs
• 3,000 Seat Dinner Showroom
• 12-Screen Luxury Movie Theater
• 24-Lane Bowling Alley
• 65,000 sq. ft. Broadcast Production Studio

So, where is the heart of this unique and exciting project?

The resort is a union project, and it has been given the attention and thoughtful details to make it a part of Las Vegas and its valley with a neighborhood vibe. It is the place to lose yourself in the kinder, more considerate aspects of this extravaganza, making it the place to visit time and again with its eye on the family, health-minded, and sports enthusiast.

• 35% of the 40,000 jobs will be for minorities
• No casino or gambling of any kind is allowed on the property
• It’s a non-smoking property
• Family events will occur throughout the year, in addition to the use of its 24-line Bowling Alley and the 12-Screen Luxury Movie Theatre
• Events will be more than a limited one-time venue if they can include an educational aspect for students
• Student field trips will be available
• Parking will be underground to beautify the grounds and surrounding area
• An Urgent Care facility will be on-site, relieving the worry of emergency care not being received in a timely manner
• A health-minded store like Sprouts will be available for health-conscious patrons
• A walking track through beautiful scenery like Central Park to keep trim
• Vegas’s dinner club intrigue will be revived in an upscale dining experience with tables viewing the Vegas Strip.
• There will be a Jazz Club featuring local musicians and others
• Endless opportunities for the Multi-Media Production Studio to create content
• The 23,000 to 25,000-seat Arena will allow many venues the needed space previously unavailable
• The Arena is sheathed in a Matrix of LED screens for dramatic visual experiences
• And so much more …

Jackie Robinson says it’s “a Resort for Tomorrow’s Lifestyle”—technology, health, wellness, entertainment, and education. Asking what he wanted his legacy to be, Jackie responded, “I want every kid—no matter color or circumstance—to never lose HOPE and to know (as his mother taught him) that God wants the best for everyone. They can be the best of whatever they choose to do.”

I sat in thought. From our conversation, I heard endless possibilities to immerse yourself in all offered at the ALL NET Resort & Arena…a place to find yourself … and I was ready to sign up.