Dive Brief:
- National Football League owners have given their official approval for a Raiders move to Las Vegas, according to USA Today.
- The team's new $1.9 billion stadium won’t be complete until 2020, so the Raiders will continue to play in Oakland in 2017, 2018 and perhaps in 2019 if the team cannot find a temporary venue.
- Oakland officials have come up with various proposals in an attempt to keep the Raiders from moving, including a last-ditch offer of a new $1.3 billion stadium made to NFL owners on behalf of the city and Alameda County. NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell rejected the idea, citing a list of deficiencies.
Dive Insight:
NFL owners had always been hesitant to allow a team to move to a gambling-focused town, but after momentum built for the Las Vegas move, Goodell he wouldn't try to block the Raiders' relocation.
The Raiders explored other stadium options in a few different cities as well, but got the relocation ball rolling in January 2016 when it petitioned the NFL owners for a move to Los Angeles, as did the Chargers and Rams. The Chargers and Rams won the owners' favor, but the group told the Raiders they could move to Los Angeles only if the Chargers passed on its one-year option to resettle there. The Rams were also given the go-ahead to move from St. Louis, leaving owner Stan Kroenke to push forward with his plans for a $2.6 billion stadium, which the Chargers will now share after San Diego failed to secure voter approval for a new stadium deal.
After being rebuffed by NFL owners, the team began exploring a move to Las Vegas. Raiders proponents got state officials on board, which led to the Nevada General Assembly agreeing to a hike in the Clark County, NV, hotel tax in order to fund a $750 million contribution toward stadium construction. The team will fund the remaining $500 million for the MANICA Architecture-designed venue.
Major backer Sheldon Adelson, however, reportedly became aggravated that he was left out of key decisions, so he withdrew his $650 million investment, leaving the team's plans in jeopardy for a short time. Raiders owner Mark Davis maintained that he had alternate financing options — a claim that turned out to be true, as Davis announced earlier this month that Bank of America had agreed to loan the Raiders the $650 million.
