The vote hasn’t taken place yet, but the Raiders are expected to have enough support to approve a move from Oakland to Las Vegas, according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter.
Raiders expected to have enough votes to move to Las Vegas
Get ready for the Las Vegas Raiders.
Photo by Thomas B. Shea/Getty Images
Jeanna Kelley has been covering the Falcons for The Falcoholic since 2011 and the NFL for SB Nation since 2015.
The Raiders will remain in Oakland for the 2017 and 2018 seasons, and will relocate to a temporary home in Las Vegas for 2019. The Raiders’ new stadium should be operational for the 2020 season.
The team is leaving Oakland because it hasn’t been able to work out a deal with the city for a new stadium. The Raiders share Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum with the Oakland A’s, and the Raiders are the only NFL franchise that still shares a stadium with a baseball team.
Oakland was willing to work with the team on a new stadium, but the city wasn’t willing to give the A’s a separate venue. That was a sticking point for the NFL.
Efforts to secure a new stadium in Las Vegas hit some snags, also, when casino magnate Sheldon Adelson pulled out of a potential deal. Mark Davis offered Adelson just $1 in annual rent and wanted the Raiders to have full control over the new facility, but Adelson balked.
Davis had $750 million in public funds already lined up, and was able to secure the rest of the financing from Bank of America for the Raiders’ new home in Las Vegas.
It won’t become official until the owners actually vote, and the Raiders need 24 of 32 teams to approve the move. Still, it sounds like the Raiders’ relocation to Las Vegas is a foregone conclusion.
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