The Raiders wanted Los Angeles. They got Las Vegas instead.

PHOENIX –- The Raiders’ league-approved move to Las Vegas is connected to Los Angeles. The Raiders have always seemed connected to Los Angeles.

When things got tight and messy between Al Davis’ Raiders and Oakland city leaders in the city where the Raiders toiled since 1960, Davis used Los Angeles as leverage. He even took them there, brought them back to Oakland and often threatened to do that dance all over again.

His son, Mark, calls the shots now and he wanted to be in the mix of the NFL’s new Los Angeles teams this time around. But the league chose the Rams and the Chargers. They did not want Davis or the Raiders back anywhere near Los Angeles. It was a slap to Davis, a matter of trust that he would bungle the Los Angeles market after the league’s more than 20-year absence there. It was a chance the league was not willing to take. So, something had to give for Davis. Something had to work for the Raiders, who were once again fleeing Oakland.

Davis found Vegas. And $750 million in public financing to boot.

Oh, and the Raiders get a sparkling, $1.9 billion Vegas domed stadium. That’s a twist — in their prior moves, they never set up with a roof.

A no from the league to Los Angeles turned into a 31-1 vote of yes to Las Vegas here on Monday at the NFL owners meeting. It was a resounding vote on this Raiders/Vegas parachute.

The league will tell you that it was never about Davis trying to pit Oakland against Vegas. They insist it was about which option was most viable.

The IOU to Davis, the big Vegas cash investment and the chance to enter a fresh, exciting entertainment mammoth was an avalanche that squished Oakland.

The NFL leadership of yesteryear — the Rozelles and the original Hunts, Rooneys, Maras, Wilsons, and Modells — would never have allowed this. Their staunch stance on gambling venues and NFL football mixing never wavered. Nevada had as much chance as Nigeria of getting an NFL franchise under their leadership.

But this is a new era of NFL leadership and ownership, one more corporate savvy, one more dollar-bent, one more apt to showmanship. Vegas glitz is good. Lights! Action! They think the NFL game and its entertainment chutzpah will fit quite nicely on the strip, regardless of the Vegas television market ranking 40th, 34 slots behind Oakland.

You’d think the Raiders and the league are going to hit the gambling thing hard and head-on for players and coaches and everyone involved with educational seminars and professionals and constant creative messaging. It probably won’t be enough. You can expect gambling casualties along the way. And severe rules and punishments that follow.

The Raiders left, they returned, and now they bolt again. See ya, Oakland. It’s a long goodbye. Davis said his team will play there this season and next season and maybe even one more after that.

Mark Davis said that no matter what, Oakland will always be a part of the Raiders’ DNA.

That’s cheeky. Blocked from Los Angeles, he spun the wheel, it landed Vegas and he’ll brazenly take a piece of Oakland with him.