Oakland Raiders owner Mark Davis is ready to move his team to Las Vegas. But he’s got some selling to do to persuade his fellow National Football League owners, a super-majority of whom must vote yes on the relocation, to get on board.
Nevada’s Republican Governor Brian Sandoval signed a bill narrowly passed by the legislature earlier this month to float general obligation bonds to supply $750 million in public funding for a $1.9 billion, 65,000-seat domed stadium to house the Raiders. The bonds would be underwritten by an increase in the Clark County hotel and motel room tax. The project is the brainchild of casino mogul and Republican mega-donor Sheldon Adelson, whose personal interests are providing $650 million to build the facility.
Davis, who has committed $500 million to the stadium’s construction, was expected to take the opportunity of last week’s NFL fall meetings in Houston to brief the other owners on the plan.
According to news reports citing several people familiar with the situation, there are concerns he will have to overcome. The relatively small size of the Las Vegas market is one of them.
“I think in general we don’t like to leave big markets for small markets,” a high-ranking official with one NFL team said. “That’s as big as anything. I think most people are not crazy about that.”
Then there is the gambling issue. Sports betting is legal in Nevada, but the NFL has opposed its spread to other parts of the country, and this could be an obstacle.
“There’s a great deal of work that needs to be done for ownership to make that kind of consideration,” NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said back in May. “There’s a variety of factors. We’d have to consider the impact from a gambling standpoint. All of those things are an ownership decision.”
Under league rules the Raiders cannot file a relocation application until after the season, and the timing could prove significant, because in a related move the San Diego Chargers have an option to join the Rams in Los Angeles. The team also is seeking public financing for a new stadium in San Diego and that measure is on the November ballot. If the Chargers get their stadium, remain in San Diego and decline their L.A. option, under a previous agreement the option to join the Rams passes to the Raiders.
But Davis is not interested. “I made a commitment to the governor of Nevada,” he said in a recent television interview.
The Nevada legislation provides for the creation of a stadium authority board which will have 18 months to sign a deal with an NFL team before the focus would shift to building a smaller college stadium for the use of the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.
Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones, for one, said he doesn’t believe that will be necessary.
“It’s a great match between the Raiders and Las Vegas. It makes me very excited to be as active as I can for it,” he said.
It’s his view that the support of the state’s leading casino owners will sit well with the owners.
“Steve Wynn is a valued friend, as is Sheldon Adelson,” he said. “I admire Jim Murren and all that the MGM does. For people like that to support the idea of having a team there is going to impress a lot of people in the NFL. I think this is a real good thing.”
