Mark Davis took control of the Raiders in 2011 after his father, the legendary Al Davis, died.
Oakland Raiders owner Mark Davis is set to attend a second meeting of the Southern Nevada Tourism Infrastructure Committee on Thursday, according to the Twitter page of the Las Vegas Sands Corporation. The news that the Raiders’ owner is showing decided interest in moving his team to Las Vegas caused Vincent Bonsignore of L.A. Daily News to call this a “huge week” for the effort to build an NFL-ready stadium in Las Vegas.
The Tourism Infrastructure Committee is a part of a group which is seeking to build a $1 billion football stadium in Las Vegas. The Las Vegas Sands’ Sheldon Adelson is said to be a supporter of the stadium plan. Its ultimate goal is to lure a team from the National Football League to the city, though proponents of the billion-dollar stadium say they want to develop the complex, regardless of whether a team moves.
Approval for Funding
Vincent Bonsignore tweeted that the next big step in building a stadium is to gain approval for a funding mechanism. This likely would come in the form of a hotel tax, which would fall on the 41 million-plus tourists who visit Las Vegas each year.
Having interest from an NFL team is likely to help with the process of getting approval from local officials. Though Infratructure Committee claims a pro-ready football stadium makes sense without an NFL franchise, it likely would be hard to sell officials on that argument. The Oakland Raiders‘ interest transforms the stadium issue.
NFL against a Las Vegas Franchise
Over the decades, the National Football League has been against the idea of a franchise relocating to Las Vegas. The implicit connection to America’s gambling capital makes the league uncomfortable, as it does the other major American sports. NFL players enjoy the nightlife in their home cities, which means NFL players are likely to be socializing adjacent to America’s largest sportsbooks — in fact, its only legal sportsbooks.
Concerned not only about the integrity of the game, but also the appearance of integrity, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell and NFL owners might oppose any plans to move a franchise to Sin City. The NFL is thought to have been one of the main forces behind the US sports leagues’ lawsuit against the state of New Jersey, which wants to strike down the 1992 PASPA law which bans sports betting in 46 US states (and full sportsbooks in 3 other states).
Raiders Move to LA Blocked
Three months ago, the Oakland Raiders lost out on an attempt to move the franchise to Los Angeles. Instead, the San Diego Chargers and the St. Louis Rams received permission to build a stadium which would house both teams. With Mark Davis unable to get the city of Oakland to build the kind of billion-dollar complex he wants, the son of the late Al Davis has begun to search for alternatives. Las Vegas drew his interest.
To gain approval for a move, Mark Davis would need the approval of 75% of the team owners in the National Football League — that is, his vote and the vote of 23 other NFL owners. Approval is not a certain thing, even if he decides to move the franchise.
Raiders v. NFL II
Davis would have another option, if the league’s ownership voted down his relocation plan. He might sue the NFL, as his father did before him, to gain the legal right to move to Las Vegas. Since the league already has turned down one attempt to relocate, he could sue based on anti-trust laws and argue the league was doing harm to his franchise by refusing to let it play in a modern stadium.
The NFL does not have a good track record in such lawsuits. In 1980, Al Davis tried to move the Oakland Raiders to Los Angeles, but was blocked by Commissioner Pete Rozelle. Davis sued the league on anti-trust arguments. In 1982, he won the right to move his team to L.A. It remained there until 1995, when Al Davis returned the team to Oakland.
Rare Opportunity for Las Vegas
It is likely the National Football League would not want to become embroiled in a costly legal battle with the Raiders, especially because legal precedent is on the side of the Raiders. Most NFL owners would not want the opprobrium (among other owners) which would come with suing the league, but the Davis Family and the Raiders organization prides itself on a renegade mentality.
Under the circumstances, Las Vegas might be well-positioned to lure an NFL franchise to the city. To do so, it is going to have to take a leap of faith in building the Las Vegas stadium. The city is in a good position to fund such a plan, because of its high volume of tourists. With Sheldon Adelson supporting the plan, it also should have a well-funded and influential group pushing for the funding mechanism.
2016 NFL Draft
Mark Davis is visiting Las Vegas for an 8 am meeting on the day the annual NFL Draft begins. Most NFL fans and executives see the NFL Draft as the most important days of the business year for teams, because that is when teams draft the bulk of their star players. It is a sign of how important the stadium issue is with Davis, as well the fact Mark Davis leaves personnel decisions to the professionals he hires. While an owner could be to his team’s war room for the start of the draft, that makes for a long day, if meetings begin at 8.
