Let’s just get this out there as a statement, because I don’t think we’ve had the opportunity to wrap our brains around it just yet. There is going to be an NFL team in Las Vegas. Yes, that Las Vegas.
Thursday the Raiders made official what we all knew was coming; they filed official relocation papers to move from Oakland to Las Vegas. Now, according to NFL rules, this isn’t a done deal. The team needs 24 out of 32 owners to agree in a vote. So, Oakland, I know what you’re thinking…
There’s no chance, Oakland. A little over a year and a half ago I wrote the first of a couple of pieces about the Rams moving from St. Louis to Los Angeles. You can read it here.
The point of that article, then a full six months before the Rams and NFL made their move official, was that St. Louis had no hope at all of stopping the Rams from moving. The owner, Stan Kroenke, wanted to return the team to Los Angeles and nothing, not St. Louis, Missouri or the NFL, was going to stop him.
Of course, it happened. The Rams moved to Los Angeles and Kroenke is building his stadium. The Chargers were offered first shot at joining with the Rams as tenants and just last week, they decided to do that.
The Raiders were left out in the cold in that deal, but were already working the angles the minute their Carson, Calif. proposal was voted down. Vegas, baby. Vegas.
Raiders officially have filed relocation papers to move to Las Vegas, as @SteveSisolak said.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) January 19, 2017
Of all the cities on the planet, maybe none is more synonymous with NFL football than Las Vegas and it’s honestly weird that no NFL team has already moved or been created for that market. The NFL likes to keep its relationship with sports betting at arm’s length, so that’s probably kept this from happening in the past. These days no one even pretends to care about that anymore. Every state is loaded with casinos and you can play Daily Fantasy, betting thousands of dollars at a time, right on your coach. This whole faintworthy idea the NFL had about Las Vegas was ridiculous to start with. Why the hell does your local paper in Pigbutt, Wyoming run sports lines? Why do we have any access at all to an NFL team’s injury report?
I love sports and always have just for entertainment, but make no mistake. Betting, legal and otherwise, is a huge reason the NFL is as big as it is today. So put away the church fan, NFL. Deal with it. Vegas.
“Today we moved one step closer to having an NFL team to call our own,” Clark County Commissioner Steve Sisolak said Thursday. “This is very exciting for Las Vegas. Many great people have put in a lot of time and effort to get us this far. I am especially appreciative of the commitment from the Raiders organization, specifically Mark Davis and Marc Badain, and we wouldn’t be where we are today without the tireless efforts of the Adelson family.”
NEWS ALERT: Raiders file paperwork to relocate to Las Vegas; must be approved by three-fourths of team owners. pic.twitter.com/iEAFuj1hm1
— NFL Network (@nflnetwork) January 19, 2017
The Adelson mentioned there is Sheldon Adelson, owner of the Las Vegas Sands casino as well as casinos all over the world. He’s worth about $32.3 billion. Adelson has pledged $650 million of the proposed $1.9 billion price tag to build the Raiders a new stadium. He probably found it in his couch cushions.
The stadium is a 65,000-seat dome stadium. The Raiders and the NFL would pay $500 million and hotel taxes would make up the rest, about $750 million. So, in Vegas, that might take all of a week to put together.
The stadium will be the premier destination in Vegas, not only for the Raiders, but God knows how many other sporting events will use it. It will, unquestionably, host what will probably be the most lucrative Super Bowl of all time in the next decade, costing kids that aren’t even born yet their college funds. It’s going to a monster money maker. Shit. It’s Vegas.
The Las Vegas Raiders…Players living in a city with 24 HR nightlight, legal gambling, prostitution etc…What could possibly go wrong?
— The Fake ESPN (@TheFakeESPN) January 19, 2017
This isn’t a victimless move and it does suck for fans married to the “Oakland” in the Raiders’ name. Both the Rams and the Chargers had the good manners to suck ass before fleeing their towns for Los Angeles. There’s ever indication that this Raiders team will be one of the best in the league over the next decade.
Can’t the NFL owners stop the move? On paper, sure. In reality, no. Raiders owner Mark Davis’ dad, Al, made a career out of suing the NFL and getting exactly what he wanted. If the NFL tried to block a move, they’d lose in court. This whole vote thing is all for show. This is a done deal. You’ll see.
Vegas, baby. Vegas.
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