The Raiders are on the move after NFL owners approved the franchise’s relocation from Oakland to Las Vegas.
Yep, the NFL owners approved the Raiders move to Las Vegas with a whopping 31-1 vote, with the Miami Dolphins being the only team that voted against the Raiders move. The Raiders needed 24 of 32 votes and easily cleared the hurdle.
Oakland’s mayor made a last-second push to try and keep the Raiders in the Bay Area, but ultimately it was too little, too late.
This comes after Sheldon Adelson, billionaire and CEO of Sands Corp., pulled out of the funding deal for a $1.9 billion NFL stadium for the Raiders in Las Vegas. Adelson had committed to funding $650 million toward the project, but reportedly withdrew after being excluded from the team’s recent lease proposal which made their lease only $1.
“Another betrayal in a community as valuable and deserving as the Bay Area will further destroy fan loyalty and the NFL’s brand,” Schaaf wrote in a letter to NFL owners.
Schaaf asked for a secret vote and a delay in the vote on whether to move the Raiders, but the NFL wasn’t interested in holding off, believing now was the time to take the leap into the desert.
Getting $750 million in public money to build a stadium in the desert is startling for the Raiders or any sports franchise in 2017.
