Nevada approves funding for Raiders stadium

[Vin+ 3,121]

http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/news/raiders-a-step-away-from-vegas-relocation-owner-calls-stadium-proud-new-home/

 

Six months ago, Raiders owner Mark Davis promised that he would move his team to Las Vegas if the state of Nevada approved $750 million in public funds for a new stadium.

 

Well, we've got some bad news for you Oakland: The funding was officially approved on Friday.

 

The Nevada Assembly approved the funding bill with a 28-13 vote during a meeting in Carson City. The vote comes two days after the money was formally approved with a 16-5 vote in the Nevada Senate.

 

The senate actually had to vote on the bill twice. The second time around, they had to approve the amendments made by the assembly.

 

The team can't leave Oakland unless NFL owners approve the move, and for that to happen, 24 of the league's 32 owners would have to OK the Raiders' relocation.

 

With approval from both legislative bodies, that means the state of Nevada will officially be contributing $750 million to the proposed $1.9 billion stadium project.

 

Shortly after the bill was passed, Sands lobbyist Andy Abboud announced that Davis would be in Nevada on Monday to sign the bill with Nevada governor Brian Sandoval.

 

https://twitter.com/RileySnyder/status/787012469805817857

 

The only thing that could stop the bill at this point is a governor veto, but that's not likely to happen if Sandoval is scheduling a public bill signing.

 

Davis was already calling the new Vegas stadium a 'proud new home' on Friday.

 

"All parties have worked extremely hard to develop and approve this tremendous stadium project that will serve as a proud new home for the entire Raider Nation," Davis said in a statement.

 

As for the stadium, the $750 million in public funding will be raised by increasing the hotel tax that people pay while staying on the Las Vegas strip.

 

For the rest of the funding, Davis will be teaming up with the NFL and casino mogul Sheldon Adelson.

 

Of the $1.9 billion in stadium costs, the Raiders would chip-in a total of $500 million. Of that total, $200 million would come from the NFL as part of a loan, and the rest would come from the Raiders.

Adelson's group will be on the hook for whatever costs aren't covered by the public money and the Raiders/NFL money.

 

Now, there is some good news for Raiders fans in the Bay Area: The team can't leave Oakland unless NFL owners approve the move, and for that to happen, 24 of the league's 32 owners would have to OK the Raiders' relocation.

 

The owners are scheduled to meet on Oct. 18 and 19 in Houston, and you can bet the Raiders potential move to Vegas will be a hot topic.

 

At last year's October meeting, the owners scheduled a special meeting for January 2016 where they eventually voted on the Rams' relocation. If they do the same thing, that means that the owners would likely vote on a potential Raiders move in January.

 

Although the NFL has stayed mum on the subject of relocation, commissioner Roger Goodell did say in September that ideally, he'd like to see the Raiders remain in Oakland.

 

"Well, you never want to see a community lose their franchise once, much less twice," Goodell said, via the Associated Press. "That's why we work so hard with our communities to say, 'This is what you have to try to get to,' because you need to try to make sure this franchise continues to be successful.'"

 

Despite those comments, Goodell has said before that he won't get in the way of what the owners decide.

 

"Ultimately, it's the ownership's decision," Goodell said in February. "It requires 24 of the 32 owners to approve any relocation to any market."

 

If the Raiders do move, it would be their third relocation in 56 years. The team moved from Oakland to Los Angeles before the 1982 season, then returned to Oakland before the 1995 season.

 

Although Goodell has been insisting that the league still wants to get something done in Oakland, that remains a remote possibility due to the financial issues there. The Raiders and the NFL have offered to put $600 million toward a new stadium in Oakland; however, the city has offered zero public dollars for the project.

 

Oakland still has over $100 million in debt remaining after paying for Coliseum renovations with taxpayer money when the Raiders moved from Los Angeles to Oakland in 1995.

 

The mayor of Oakland, Libby Schaaf, says there will be a Hail Mary attempt to keep the team, but if that Hail Mary doesn't involve lots of money, it's likely the owners will let the Raiders move.

 

The Raiders can terminate their lease in Oakland after the 2016 season. However, the team does have two single-year options, which means they could conceivably stay there through the 2018 season.

 

 

Gonna be interesting to see if the other owners shut this down, but if there was ever to be a team in Vegas, the Raiders are the perfect fit.

[Thanatos 2,847]

What exactly happens if the owners say no and the Raiders move anyway?

[ATL_Predator+ 1,196]

I don't believe the owners will approve this.

 

 

Owners have come on record stating that they want them to stay in Oakland. They'll keep doing single year contracts with the city as long as possible.

[WeaponX20 26]

I think the Owners will approve there is Money to be made in Vegas way more than Oakland.

 

Would you rather a SB be in Vegas or Oakland?

 

And not only can it help for College playoffs, and Raiders Have Stated UNLV Can use the stadium to play ball..

[DonovanMcnabb for H.O.F 2,241]

Everybody wants the Raiders to stay in Oakland, but it's pretty clear that the city itself doesn't.

 

The NFL is the king of sports in America. It's extremely laughable to me that they share a stadium with a baseball team.

 

No way the league doesn't pass it, there's too much potential for profit.

[BJORN 679]

Yeah, on one hand, the Oakland Raiders just seems right, bad ass team paired with a bad ass city. But they'd be a good fit in LV. Very much like the Chargers situation, we'll see if they use LV and the potential of LA being as leverage to get something done in the Bay Area.

 

For the record, I have always liked how they have shared a stadium with the A's. Kind of added a cool theme to field with the dirt from the diamond.

[Bucman 891]

Owners will approve. Oakland has done nothing to show they want to keep them.

[Zack_of_Steel+ 3,014]

I always thought the baseball field was trashy, like the Raiders.

[ATL_Predator+ 1,196]

ZOS...

 

PLS

[blotsfan 2,112]

What exactly happens if the owners say no and the Raiders move anyway?

 

The Raiders will move to Las Vegas. You can thank Mark's dad for that.

[Bay 2,003]

I always thought the baseball field was trashy, like the Raiders.

It annoys me seeing the baseball dirt when the A's season is still going on.

[Thanatos 2,847]

Nope. Wrong again. This is smoke and there is a fire here.