The St. Louis Rams moving to Los Angeles may have only been the first domino to tip in the shuffling of the NFL landscape.
Reports this week indicate that the Oakland Raiders ownership, including Mark Davis, is traveling to Las Vegas to meet with Sheldon Adelson, owner of the Las Vegas Sands casino group, which controls the Palazzo and Venetian hotels. Davis and Co. will be checking out potential stadium sites in the area.
Told by source idea of #Raiders moving to Vegas is very real. Mark Davis and Sheldon Adelson have been discussing it for two years.
— Jason Cole (@JasonCole62) January 29, 2016
With the help of investors, Adelson reportedly wants to spend $1 billion building a 65,000-seat, domed stadium on UNLV’s campus that would be shared between the school and an NFL team. The Raiders, whose lease with the dingy Oakland Coliseum is up after this season, could be a good fit.
The Raiders previously submitted a joint proposal with the San Diego Chargers that would have moved both teams to Carson, California, but that proposal was rejected in favor of the Rams, who will head to Inglewood.
Los Angeles is still a possibility for the Raiders, who called L.A. home from 1982 to 1994, but a few things would have to fall their way. The Chargers will decide within the next year if they want to join the Rams in Inglewood and, if they decline, that option will passed along to Davis and the Raiders.
However, if the Raiders don’t like their chances of getting that option — or if they’re blown away by Adelson’s pitch — Las Vegas may be the more attractive option, and we could see this thing pick up steam. After all, a $1 billion stadium is no joke, and Las Vegas has been itching for a professional sports team for quite some time.
The biggest factor may be the NFL’s willingness to allow Vegas to claim a team, which they haven’t exactly embraced in the past. After all, it’s the gambling capital of the United States in a city that relies heavily on tourism and doesn’t have the biggest media market (although it’s currently bigger than four current NFL teams’). There are certainly reasons for the league having hesitations.
But if you thought Vegas was a black hole before, just imagine what it’ll be like if the Raiders move into town.
