Raiders owner willing to give $500M toward Las Vegas stadium

Collapse
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts
  • L.M.
    Vitalstatistix
    • Oct 2006
    • 11468

    Raiders owner willing to give $500M toward Las Vegas stadium

    LAS VEGAS -- Raiders owner Mark Davis says he wants to move the team to Las Vegas and is willing to spend a half billion dollars as part of a deal for a new stadium in the city.

    Davis upped the ante in a bid to move the team to this gambling city, appearing Thursday alongside soccer great David Beckham and billionaire casino owner Sheldon Adelson before a committee studying the idea of a $1.4 billion stadium.

    He told committee members he is not a billionaire but will put $500 million -- with $200 million of that coming from an NFL loan -- into funding the stadium to move the team to Las Vegas.

    "Together we can turn the Silver State into the silver and black state," Davis said.

    Davis noted the Raiders played in Las Vegas in an exhibition in 1964 that was the only game by future NFL teams in the city. The Raiders beat Houston before an overflow crowd at the city's baseball field.

    "With your help it won't be another 50 years before the Raiders play another game in Las Vegas," Davis said.

    Adelson, owner of Las Vegas Sands, is spearheading building a 65,000-seat stadium just off the Las Vegas Strip to host a variety of events, including UNLV football, soccer matches and major concerts. But it is the inclusion of the Raiders that is pushing the stadium forward, and the appearance of Davis before the committee was the most solid commitment to date to moving an NFL team to the city.

    The Raiders have a one-year lease in Oakland for next season, and Davis indicated the team would likely stay there until a new stadium is built. He said the Raiders could play a preseason game in the aging 40,000-seat UNLV stadium but that it wasn't suitable for regular-season games.

    NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell softened on the league's opposition to Las Vegas in recent weeks, saying it would be up to owners whether a team could be in a city that features legalized sports betting.

    "The Raiders would like to thank the Southern Nevada Tourism Infrastructure Committee and Mayor Goodman for their time today as we continue to explore options for a permanent stadium solution," the team wrote in a statement. "We appreciate the support and passion of Raiders fans everywhere."

    NFL owners would have to approve a Raiders move to Las Vegas.

    The official source for NFL news, video highlights, fantasy football, game-day coverage, schedules, stats, scores and more.

    Superbowl 50 MVP Von Miller on February 7th, 2016
  • johntbronco
    DaCap Man!
    • Jan 2013
    • 10054

    #2
    i kind of like this idea! Go watch a broncos game in vegas, baby!

    Comment

    • Houshmazode
      The Mountaineer
      • Sep 2006
      • 7042

      #3
      Originally posted by johntbronco View Post
      i kind of like this idea! Go watch a broncos game in vegas, baby!
      That would be pretty cool. Vegas is driveable within a day from Denver, quick plane ride. Could make for a nice long weekend to go see our team win away from home.
      :lombardi:2019 Adopt-A-Bronco: Dr. Dre'Mont Jones
      sigpic

      Comment

      • L.M.
        Vitalstatistix
        • Oct 2006
        • 11468

        #4
        This isn't a new idea, and it's anticipated that the rest of the League will oppose it on the grounds that the Raiders presence there could influence the center of NFL gambling. It wasn't made clear on exactly how that could happen, just the fear of it.

        I do like the idea because of the role of Las Vegas as the capital of evil in Stephen King's The Stand. Fitting!

        Superbowl 50 MVP Von Miller on February 7th, 2016

        Comment

        • Dennis.1960
          Captain
          • Nov 2014
          • 3431

          #5
          Originally posted by LynchMobster View Post
          I do like the idea because of the role of Las Vegas as the capital of evil in Stephen King's The Stand. Fitting!
          All that's left is for the raiders to hire a head coach named Randall Flagg

          I know the NFL has resisted putting a team there forever due to the Vegas$ = gambling perception...but with the endless tv commercials for fantasy football gambling...oh I mean "games of skill", who are they trying to kid anyway? Also on Davis' side is there's no way Oakland is building a new stadium with a penny of taxpayer funds...they have much bigger problems as the city is basically the crime capital of CA with respect to drugs/gangs/etc. Also, it wouldn't shock me if the owners gave the approval as the Coliseum is perceived as an embarrassment to the league.

          If this goes forward, on the bad side: I'd really hate to see an AFCW team move to a dome. I love that the AFCW is one of the divisions where everyone plays outside at home.

          On the good side, I'd have a huge laugh if my old raider fan friends living in the bay area got screwed by the davis family they worship not once, but twice :dance:
          Last edited by Dennis.1960; 04-28-2016, 05:47 PM.
          "There is no plan B. Plan A is to win the Super Bowl" - John Elway
          PLAN A ACCOMPLISHED 2/7/16!!!
          LSU 15-0 2019 BCS Champions...Geaux Tigers :dance:

          Comment

          • Garfield
            Starter
            • Aug 2011
            • 5032

            #6
            Originally posted by LynchMobster View Post
            This isn't a new idea, and it's anticipated that the rest of the League will oppose it on the grounds that the Raiders presence there could influence the center of NFL gambling. It wasn't made clear on exactly how that could happen, just the fear of it.

            I do like the idea because of the role of Las Vegas as the capital of evil in Stephen King's The Stand. Fitting!
            For a league that has ALMOST endorsed game day gambling with the one day FF stuff and allowing them to run a gazillion Ads game day on the NFL network


            Not to mention making sure the injuries are accurate for the point spreads. It would be hard to say they do not encourage gambling is a farce.

            Comment

            • Thors Hammer
              Football Immortal
              • Sep 2009
              • 6404

              #7
              I like the idea. Make a long weekend of it for opposing fans. Fly out on a Friday, spend some time at the casinos, take in a show or a fight on Saturday, game on Sunday.
              sigpic

              Adopted Posters:
              Broncbeat - 80stheman - kmcgough25 - InsaneBlaze 23
              Adopted By:
              Broncoholic JS & 80stheman
              Broncbeat

              Comment

              • L.M.
                Vitalstatistix
                • Oct 2006
                • 11468

                #8
                Originally posted by Thors Hammer View Post
                I like the idea. Make a long weekend of it for opposing fans. Fly out on a Friday, spend some time at the casinos, take in a show or a fight on Saturday, game on Sunday.
                ...and watch Raiders players and coaches gamble away their salaries. Good times!

                Superbowl 50 MVP Von Miller on February 7th, 2016

                Comment

                • Charlie Brown
                  King of the Echo People
                  • Oct 2004
                  • 14701

                  #9
                  This is one of the reasons the NFL is losing fans.

                  No NFL team is safe, they can relocate at any given moment and NFL owners fully endorse it so that they can blackmail cities to pay for ever more expensive stadiums on taxpayers money.
                  The Browns are gone; I'm not a fan of the Impostors

                  The real Browns are in Baltimore, see?

                  Comment

                  • L.M.
                    Vitalstatistix
                    • Oct 2006
                    • 11468

                    #10
                    Originally posted by Charlie Brown View Post
                    This is one of the reasons the NFL is losing fans.

                    No NFL team is safe, they can relocate at any given moment and NFL owners fully endorse it so that they can blackmail cities to pay for ever more expensive stadiums on taxpayers money.
                    Some owners are richer than others. Kroenke is one the wealthiest and he's funding the Ram's megastadium complex without help -it certainly isn't the little town of Inglewood! They can come up with new sidewalks and that's about it!

                    Mark Davis on the other hand simply doesn't have all the needed capital, and Oakland won't (and from what I've read -can't) raise the balance required. There's no blackmail -they know and acknowledge each other's limits. The League only offered $200M to help out. While that seems like a lot, new stadia are about a billion a piece these days! Cities have to decide whether it's profitable enough to keep an NFL team around (they usually bring in A LOT of business) to justify raising taxes in order to assist stadium construction costs. That's the debate in San Diego this year because Spanos and the League are still short around $300M for their new stadium.

                    At least with the Raiders their fanbase is fairly widespread, being the team for all rebels and badboys. I don't think a move will cost the Raiders nor the NFL a lot of fans.

                    Superbowl 50 MVP Von Miller on February 7th, 2016

                    Comment

                    • Charlie Brown
                      King of the Echo People
                      • Oct 2004
                      • 14701

                      #11
                      Originally posted by LynchMobster View Post
                      There's no blackmail -they know and acknowledge each other's limits. The League only offered $200M to help out.
                      That is very much blackmail. The NFL owners want politicians to raise taxes not to pay for basic necessities in life, nothing that will help the community. They want them to raise taxes to build a multi-billion dollar stadium. Complete with water slides, pools, and fish tanks. All the amenities that you just need at a football stadium. Those things are not needed. It's a darn stadium. Simple as that. The NFL even encourages teams to move as you have shown when they offer monetary incentives for teams to relocate.
                      The Browns are gone; I'm not a fan of the Impostors

                      The real Browns are in Baltimore, see?

                      Comment

                      • L.M.
                        Vitalstatistix
                        • Oct 2006
                        • 11468

                        #12
                        Originally posted by Charlie Brown View Post
                        That is very much blackmail. The NFL owners want politicians to raise taxes not to pay for basic necessities in life, nothing that will help the community. They want them to raise taxes to build a multi-billion dollar stadium. Complete with water slides, pools, and fish tanks. All the amenities that you just need at a football stadium. Those things are not needed. It's a darn stadium. Simple as that. The NFL even encourages teams to move as you have shown when they offer monetary incentives for teams to relocate.
                        The League does NOT encourage teams to move, they have a history of actually trying to bar teams from leaving their cities. The Rams have gone through that gauntlet three times since the forties! The Raiders once, in the '80s, with a great deal of acrimony between Al Davis and the others over that. The extra money the League offered to the Raiders and Chargers recently is not for stadium costs elsewhere, but to help them stay put!

                        Yes sometimes in the past teams have threatened to leave in order to force local governments to help with costs, but this isn't one of those situations. I followed the move to L.A. and owners vote in January very closely, reading local articles in Oakland, San Diego and Los Angeles. I shared some of that research in various threads here like this one:



                        The mayor of Oakland can come up with about $90 million "infrastructure" costs -like parking lots, etc. Davis is grateful and would genuinely prefer to stay in Oakland, but that doesn't cut it and so he's looked at other other sites. He's serious about moving and he bet all his marbles on the Carson project (southern metro L.A.) working out so that the Raiders and the Chargers could both have a new stadium by splitting costs, but that deal lost out to the Rams in Inglewood.

                        That left Davis high n' dry and he knows Oakland can't help much -he's acknowledged that publically, he's not leveling pressure on them or "blackmailing", he simply needs a new stadium and they won't get it there, period, unless he sells part or all of the team to someone with capital. And he's not proposing anything elaborate either; the new stadium cost in Oakland is $900M with no extra bells and whistles, nothing even close to the Inglewood project super complex of over $2 billion!

                        Personally, I feel like the League should pay more and help team owners who don't have enough by themselves. Local governments shouldn't have to pay more than "infrastructure costs" for stuff like sidewalks, parking lots, sewer lines, etc. and that should come from a special tax on businesses only, since its they who stand to profit from the NFL's presence there. Of course I suggest this without knowing just how deep the League's coffers are...

                        Superbowl 50 MVP Von Miller on February 7th, 2016

                        Comment

                        • jwhitt1
                          Practice Squad
                          • May 2010
                          • 156

                          #13
                          I guess I am showing my age but I am against this move as a fan because there is so much history in the rivalries with the "Oakland Raiders". Back in the day, the team represented the attitude of the city. It would be a strange brand new chapter if they move to Vegas. It would be a transient fan base that resembles nothing of the traditional Oakland fanbase. As an Oakland Raider fan, if they move to Vegas, I`d suggest they just rename the team, change colors and let the old "Badass Oakland Raiders" retire in the history books. Sucks for us local fans because we have stuck through them during the lowest of lows for the last decade and now it finally appears they are becoming contenders again, bowl cut creeper boy, Mark Davis wants to move them. I`m old enough to remember when Al moved them the first time to LA, there were many cars in the Bay Area with bumper stickers that said, "Fk you Al Davis". I imagine there will be many with "Fk you Mark Davis" if this actually happens. What`s next? Move the Steelers to Hawaii? Move the Yankees to Idaho? This truly sucks for Raider fans and all the rivalries.

                          Comment

                          • FL BRONCO
                            Traveling Mod
                            • Mar 2010
                            • 13704

                            #14
                            Now a Gentlemen's club has offered all the players a free limo ride with benefits to the club for every player on the team, and not just once, for the entire time they are there if they move to Vegas. If this is a glimpse of things to come, this is going to be very interesting.
                            My Boss is a Jewish Carpenter

                            Comment

                            Working...
                            X