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NFL Owners Approve Raiders' Relocation to Las Vegas
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by Barry Wilner
March 2017
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Phoenix -- Invoking his father Al's name, and copying what the Hall of Fame owner did with the
Raiders, Mark Davis is moving the franchise out of Oakland.
NFL owners approved the Raiders' move to Las Vegas 31-1 at the league meetings Monday.
Miami was the lone dissenter.
"My father used to say the greatness of the Raiders is in the future," Davis said. "This gives us the
ability to achieve that."
The vote was a foregone conclusion after the league and Raiders were not satisfied with
Oakland's proposals for a new stadium, and Las Vegas stepped up with $750 million in public
money. Bank of America also is giving Davis a $650 million loan, further helping to persuade
owners to allow the third team relocation in just over a year.
The Rams moved from St. Louis to Los Angeles in 2016, and in January the Chargers relocated
from San Diego to LA.
"You know our goal is to have 32 stable franchises for each team and the league," Commissioner
Roger Goodell said. "We work very hard and never want to see the relocation of a franchise. We
worked tirelessly over the last nine months or so on a solution. We needed to provide certainties
and stability for the Raiders and the league."
The Raiders, whose relocation fee of approximately $350 million is less than the $650 million the
Rams and Chargers paid, likely will play two or three more years in the Bay Area before their $1.7
billion stadium near the Las Vegas Strip is ready.
"I wouldn't use the term lame duck," Davis insisted. "We're still the Raiders and we represent
Raider Nation.
"There will be disappointed fans and it's important for me to talk to them to explain why and how."
Las Vegas, long taboo to the NFL because of its legalized gambling, also is getting an NHL team
this fall, the Golden Knights.
From AB: Renderings of Proposed $1.9B Las Vegas Raiders Stadium
"Today will forever change the landscape of Las Vegas and UNLV football," said Steve Sisolak,
chairman of the Clark County Commission and a former member of a panel appointed by Nevada
Gov. Brian Sandoval to study the stadium tax funding plan. "I couldn't be more excited for the
fans and residents of Clark County as we move forward with the Raiders and the Rebels."
Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf and a group trying to keep the team in Oakland, made a last-ditch
presentation to the NFL last week. But that letter was "filled with uncertainty," according to
Goodell.
Monday, she asked owners to delay the vote, wanting to give her city a chance to negotiate with a
small group of owners to complete a stadium deal at the Coliseum site.
"Never that we know of has the NFL voted to displace a team from its established market when
there is a fully financed option before them with all the issues addressed," Schaaf said in a
statement. "I'd be remiss if I didn't do everything in my power to make the case for Oakland up
until the very end."
Schaaf said the city presented a $1.3 billion plan for a stadium that would be ready by 2021. She
said the existing Coliseum would be demolished by 2024, with the Oakland Athletics baseball
team either moving to a new stadium at the Coliseum site or somewhere else in the city.
But the presence of the A's in that sports complex was particularly troubling to the NFL, Goodell
said.
"We understand the Raiders' need for a new stadium," A's President Dave Kaval said. "Oakland
is an incredible sports town and we would be sorry to see them leave. We commend the city's
and county's efforts to keep the Raiders in Oakland. The mayor and her team have worked
incredibly hard to save the franchise.
"We are focused on, and excited about, our efforts to build a new ballpark in Oakland and look
forward to announcing a location this year."
The Raiders' move became more certain this month when Bank of America offered the loan. That
replaced the same amount the Raiders lost when the league balked at having casino owner
Sheldon Adelson involved and he was dropped from the team's plans.
Davis on Monday thanked Adelson for his "vision and leadership," saying the entire deal might
not have happened without him.
Leaving the Bay Area is not something new with the Raiders, who played in Los Angeles from
1982-94 before heading back to Oakland. Davis was passed over last year in an attempt to move
to a stadium in the LA area that would have been jointly financed with the Chargers. Instead, the
owners approved the Rams' relocation and gave the Chargers an option to join them, which they
exercised this winter.
Now, it's off to the desert for the Raiders. Well, in a few years.
"The opportunity to build a world-class stadium in the entertainment capital of the world," Davis
said, "is a significant step toward achieving that greatness."
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