National Football League

Sheldon Adelson Changes His Tune Regarding Raiders Stadium

Updated Mar. 5, 2020 12:58 a.m. ET

Fansided, Nick Hjeltness/FanSided via Just Blog Baby

Las Vegas billionaire Sheldon Adelson is changing his tune in one regard to the potential relocation of the Oakland Raiders.

If the Mark Davis and the Oakland Raiders and Las Vegas billionaire Sheldon Adelson could not agree to terms, it has been reported that Adelson would try to block the team’s move to the Sin City.

Adelson even went as far as playing hardball in the media, essentially saying that he would take his deal off the table.

“They want so much,” Adelson said. “So I told my people, ‘Tell them I could live with the deal, I could live without the deal. Here’s the way it’s gonna go down. If they don’t want it, bye-bye.”

But according to Jason Cole of Bleacher Report, Adelson may be changing his tune in this regard.

Source: #Raiders & Sheldon Adelson's Sands Corp still hoping to get deal done. However, Adelson will not stand in way of LV move if no deal.

— Jason Cole (@JasonColeBR) January 25, 2017

Cole posted two tweets (the one above and the one below) on the subject. Explaining that if Davis and Adelson can’t agree to terms, that he no longer would attempt to block the Raiders move, if they still were able to pursue one without his help.

Source indicated Adelson has changed his position on #Raiders if there is no deal with Sands. Adelson now believes move would aid his legacy

— Jason Cole (@JasonColeBR) January 25, 2017

As far as why Adelson has changed his tune here, according to Cole, he believes that if the Raiders moved to Vegas — even without his financial assistance — that it would be help improve his legacy. Presumably because he has been a driving factor to even get the Raiders to this point, that he believes he’d still be given his fair share of credit.

However, source indicated despite Adelson support, approval from other owners for #Raiders move is hardly a formality at this point.

— Jason Cole (@JasonColeBR) January 25, 2017

But as Cole points out, Mark Davis may still be lacking the required votes to gain approval. Counting Mark as a vote, he still would need 23 out of the remaining 31 owners to vote yes.

If approval is “hardly a formality” at this point, even considering how little Oakland has done thus far, and how Vegas has $750M in public funds ready to go, what else could happen that would convince owners who are on the fence to vote yes?

It’s clear that NFL owners still have reservations about a move to Sin City. Whether it’s about gambling, the lack of a dedicated fan base, a small market, or anything else. Otherwise it wouldn’t be “hardly a formality” this late in the game.

There will surely be plenty of waffling and conflicting reports between now and the owners meetings at the end of March. So be prepared for plenty of “the Raiders to Vegas is a done deal” and plenty of “the Raiders are staying put” stories between now and then.