Report: Raiders owner forging ahead with move
Mark Davis plans to file paperwork for relocation in January, according to ESPN
HOUSTON — Raiders owner Mark Davis reportedly told fellow team owners Wednesday he will seek permission from the league to move his team to Las Vegas, where lawmakers have agreed to contribute $750 million in public funds toward a new stadium.
“I’m going to say this for the last time, all right?” Davis told reporters at the NFL’s fall meetings. “When I met with (Nevada) Gov, (Brian) Sandoval for the very first time, he looked me in the eye and said, ‘Are you using us for leverage to get a better deal somewhere else?’ I told him I’ve never done that
“I cannot afford for us to be thrown off our game because Nevada lawmakers have deemed it appropriate to put $750 million in public money towards a private sports facility.” — Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf
with a city and that if they come up with what we’re talking about, that we would be moving or doing our best to come to Las Vegas.”
Davis said in a closeddoor owners meeting that he plans to file for relocation in January, the soonest that he can, ESPN reported.
While fellow owners insisted it’s too early to reach any conclusions, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell supported Davis’ assertion that there has been no movement toward keeping the team in the Bay Area, saying “to a large extent there has not been a solution (presented) in Oakland.” Goodell’s statement represented a turnabout from comments he made in September, when he expressed hope a hometown solution would be found.
At the same time, the commissioner said more work needs to be done in advance of any vote, including a viability study of the Las Vegas market.
A move would require approval from 24 of the league’s 32 owners.
“There’s still a great deal of information that we need to gather with respect to the circumstances we see in Las Vegas — the opportunities and also the challenges,” Goodell told reporters. “Those are the things we’ll look at through the committee, and report back to them maybe as early as December, but more likely later than that.”
A plan approved by the Nevada Legislature last week would hike hotel room taxes by up to 1.4 percentage points in the Las Vegas area, raising $750 million in public funds to help build a 65,000-seat domed stadium for the Raiders and the UNLV football team. Casino mogul Sheldon Adelson and the Raiders also would kick in $650 million and $500 million, respectively.
Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf, responding to Davis’ comments Wednesday, reiterated her long-standing position that public funds won’t be used to retain the Raiders.
Taxpayers still owe about $100 million on renovations made to the Coliseum to lure the team from Los Angeles in the mid1990s.
“I cannot afford for us to be thrown off our game because Nevada lawmakers have deemed it appropriate to put $750 million in public money towards a private sports facility,” Schaaf said in a prepared statement. “While I’m committed to keeping the Raiders, I will not enter into a bidding war with Nevada using public funds.”
Schaaf, referencing an investment group led by NFL Hall of Famer and former 49er Ronnie Lott, expressed confidence that “a serious plan” will be presented “in the coming weeks.”
Despite the discouraging remarks from Davis and Goodell Wednesday, Schaaf may have an ace in the hole: Getting 24 owners to back the move could be difficult for Davis, according to the Washington Post. The main issue is not gambling, but market size, specifically in terms of TV. The Las Vegas television market is far smaller than that in the Bay Area.
“I think in general we don’t like to leave big markets for small markets,” a high-ranking official with one NFL team told the Post. “That’s as big as anything. I think most people are not crazy about that.”
In a conversation last month with the Los Angeles Times, Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones gushed about the potential afforded by a move to Las Vegas.
“There’s no question it has additional interest and a ‘wow’ factor,” Jones said.
“It’s one of the jewels of the country. It has that going for it. And the NFL itself could help bolster it up if there’s any risk of it not being what you’d like it to be. Someone could say, ‘Twenty years from now, it may look tired and worn out; it may have lost some of its glitter.’ The NFL coming in is a plus.”
Even if Davis doesn’t get the votes, he could still attempt to move the Raiders, just as his father famously did.
Also in play is the possibility of a move to Los Angeles. The Raiders have the option of joining the Rams there if the San Diego Chargers choose not to do so. That could be answered Nov. 8 when San Diego voters go to the polls to decide whether to build the Chargers a new stadium.