Raiders talk Vegas move
LAS VEGAS (AP) — Mark Davis was beaming as he posed with fans behind a black and silver “Las Vegas Raiders” banner. He made a few jokes before delivering a $500 million commitment to a new stadium in the city for his team.
Then the owner of the Raiders got serious about the prospects of getting fellow NFL owners to allow him to move from Oakland to a city the league has long shunned because it has legal sports betting.
Little more than an idea a few months ago, the possibility of the Raiders moving to Las Vegas inched a bit closer to reality Thursday when Davis appeared before a stadium commission to not only pledge to move the Raiders to the city, but put $500 million into the $1.4 billion facility that would house the team.
He talked about building on the legacy of his father, the late Al Davis, and finally giving the team a new stadium to match those of the richer teams in the league. He insisted he wasn’t trying to use Las Vegas as a bargaining chip, and spoke of a “lifetime” commitment to the city.
At times during the meeting of the Southern Nevada Tourism Infrastructure Committee, it looked like the marriage had already begun. There were few pointed questions from committee members, and at one point Las Vegas Mayor Carolyn Goodman was gushing in her love and support for the team.
Despite the commitments, there are hurdles to overcome if the dozen or so Raiders fans who showed up to support the move will be watching their team in Las Vegas in 2020. The two biggest are figuring out a way to siphon room taxes to pay for a big chunk of the project, and gaining approval of 23 other NFL owners to move.
With Davis committed to putting in $500 million — $200 million of that a loan from the NFL fund used for stadium projects — and the Las Vegas Sands offering some money, there is still a gap of $750 million needed to build the 65,000-seat stadium.
Stadium backers are proposing the money come from increased taxes on tourists, though rival casino operators say they need to be assured first that there is enough in the pot to fund a big expansion of the city’s convention center at the same time. It would also need to be approved by the state Legislature, which they will ask the governor to call into special session in August for a vote.
Even if that happens, the NFL must approve the move.
Davis said the team would Raiders President Marc Badain said there has been no progress made in recent months with officials in Oakland about a new stadium there.