It’s official: NFL coming to town
Monday was a momentous day in the evolution of Las Vegas. Even those who harbor no love for professional sports — or oppose diverting tax money to a stadium project — will have a hard time denying the significance of the official announcement that the Oakland Raiders of the National Football League will be relocating to Southern Nevada.
The news comes after a whirlwind 14-month negotiation culminating in a vote Monday during NFL meetings in Phoenix. The tally was 31-1 in favor of the move, with the Miami Dolphins the only opposition.
While the details have yet to be solidified, the Raiders will move to town no later than the 2020 season, when a stateof-the-art, $1.9 billion arena is expected to be completed. It’s possible that the team could also play its 2018 and 2019 home games in town, at Sam Boyd Stadium.
All this would have been unthinkable just a decade past. Those running the country’s major sports leagues traditionally dismissed Las Vegas out of hand as a potential expansion market, not simply for demographic reasons but in part due to Nevada’s embrace of legalized sports wagering, seen as a potentially corrupting influence.
The NFL for years has had a particularly irrational aversion to Las Vegas and sports wagering.
But the recent proliferation of fantasy sports contests and a more widespread acceptance of recreational gambling have helped erode such attitudes in league offices. In addition, Las Vegas’s entry into the NFL reflects the nation’s long-term population shift. In 1980, about 460,000 residents called Clark County home. Today, that number is about 2 million as more Americans relocate to the West and Southwest — and pro sports leagues follow suit.
Southern Nevada crossed the sports threshold in 2015 when — thanks to the efforts of Bill Foley — the NHL awarded Las Vegas an expansion franchise, the Golden Knights, that will begin play this fall. Mr. Foley’s trailblazing efforts set the stage for Monday’s coup.
Amid all the hoopla about the Raiders, it’s worth remembering that this deal also has major ramifications for UNLV. As the Review-Journal’s Ed Graney noted on Monday, “What has been a historically forgotten football program can officially envision playing in and recruiting to an NFL stadium.” The potential exists for rapid improvement.
Perhaps not since Steve Wynn forever reshaped the Las Vegas Strip upon unveiling The Mirage almost 30 years ago has the region experienced such a transformational event. And you don’t have to be a sports fan to realize it.