According to those “in the know” that follow the Silver and Black Nation, Raiders’ owner Mark Davis is very much committed to moving the Oakland Raiders outside of California to Las Vegas. He is meeting with County and State officials this Thursday in Las Vegas, where the main topic of conversation is funding of a Stadium to be used for the Raiders. Jason Cole of BleacherReport, tweeted that “#Raiders owner Mark Davis not only supposed to attend Thurs mtg in Vegas. Source said he’ll pledge to move team there if financing approved.”
While people have questioned moving a NFL team to Las Vegas, because of our connection to gambling, as Matt Youmans, a sports reporter for the LVRJ pointed out, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell hadn’t “slammed the door” on the conversation.
One thing that is making this exciting prospect a reality is Las Vegas Sands Corporation looking into building one of the most expensive domed stadium projects in America ever considered. This means that if Sands and taxpayers commit to this stadium, it would be for sure place for the Raiders to play. David has already visited UNLV to see if he can use Sam Boyd Stadium until a new place was built. Davis has been considering the Raiders as a possibility for Vegas for as long as November 2015, when records show he personally registered the domain LasVegasRaiders.com in order to secure it from possible cyber-squatters.
Not everyone thinks the Raider’s are a safe bet to Las Vegas, partially because of their fan base, which is seen often as the “most dangerous” in the nation. Writer Elias Trejo, a lifetime Raider’s fan described a non-fans dangerous encounter when attending a home game.
A couple directly above me was wearing Charger blue. The regular trash talking commenced from the Raider fans and it started off as playful. Then, as the game progressed, the talking became more threatening.
The husband was trying his best to ignore it, but the wife was visibly scared. It was around the third quarter when it became too much to handle and the couple left. I felt bad for that couple because they had traveled from Arizona to watch the game.
Yardbarker, a sports website, seems to be however supporting the idea that the Raiders are indeed coming to Las Vegas, and a deal is gaining steam, and why that idea is more and more plausible:
The Raiders don’t currently have a legitimate stadium to call their home. Yes, they play in the Coliseum in Oakland, but the dump of a stadium recently lost sponsorship when Overstock pulled out, and it’s nothing more than a temporary solution.
Oakland has been playing hardball with Davis and the Raiders for years about working with the franchise to build a new stadium. At this point, it’s looking more and more like such an arrangement simply isn’t feasible.
Meanwhile, Davis has a very attractive situation developing in one of the biggest tourist destinations in the United States. And it’s becoming quite clear that this isn’t just a pipe dream, either.
What do you think? Why did Overstock pull out and leave a mess all over the fans? Comment below:
