Las Vegas Raiders

Mark Davis plans to file Raiders move to Las Vegas

Published Jun. 30, 2017 6:28 p.m. ET

foxsports

Oakland Raiders owner Mark Davis plans to file papers to move his team from the Bay Area to Las Vegas. Is this a good idea? Will the NFL end up in Sin City?

The Oakland Raiders have a proud, albeit unique history in the NFL. They have a surprisingly large fan base despite being a losing franchise for the last decade plus. The Raiders have always been somewhat of the NFL’s renegade team, and there is a certain type of person that can get behind that sort of team identity.

The Raiders’ biggest issue is that they play in the worst stadium in the NFL. It doesn’t help that the Davis family has the smallest allocation of wealth of the 32 NFL owners.

Majority owner Mark Davis is trying his best to keep the Raiders in the Bay Area. However, it has been like moving mountains to get a new stadium built in Oakland. Davis told ESPN on Wednesday that he plans to file the necessary paperwork in January to relocate the team to Las Vegas.

Davis said that “Las Vegas has done its part” and doesn’t want to live in the hypothetical world of “What if Oakland does this?” Las Vegas has quickly mobilized to put together the $750 million of public money to finance a stadium should the Raiders relocate to Southern Nevada.

Nevada doesn’t have a state income tax, so most of the money will come from a slight increase in hotel taxes. It’s not like people are going to stop going to Las Vegas, the Entertainment Capital of the World, because of a minuscule hotel tax.

There are several things that might prevent Davis from moving his team to Las Vegas. The city only has a metro area of 2.1 million people, mostly of the transient variety. It’s the 42nd biggest television market compared to the Bay Area being sixth in the country. Of course there’s always the stigma associated with gambling.

Perhaps the biggest obstacle in the way of getting the Raiders to Las Vegas is none other than Jerry Jones. The Dallas Cowboys owner is the most persuasive deal-maker of the 32 owners. By moving the Raiders to Las Vegas, it somewhat stifles the potential growth opportunities Rams owner Stan Kroenke has by moving his team to Los Angeles in 2016.

Los Angeles to Las Vegas is a quick flight that Angelinos would be willing to take eight times a year. Los Angeles was more of a Raiders town back in the day over the Rams when both clubs were based there. Davis has the right to look for a better stadium opportunity in Las Vegas, but he’ll have to smooth over Jones about possibly moving the Raiders to Sin City. If Davis can get Jones on his side, the Raiders in Las Vegas are a sure thing.