Oakland Raiders Apply to Move to Las Vegas

[JonLP24]

Source: NY Times

After decades of shunning Las Vegas, the American city most closely associated with gambling, the N.F.L. has moved a lot closer to having a team there.

On Thursday, the Oakland Raiders applied to move there, a bid that will force the league, which has been stridently opposed to sports gambling for decades, to consider approving it. At least 24 of the 32 teams will have to approve the application, and the earliest the owners are expected to vote is late March when they meet in Phoenix.

Although the league has long shunned the idea of putting a team in Las Vegas, that stance has softened in recent years with the growth of daily fantasy sports and other forms of wagering. The N.F.L. is still wary of gambling and its potential influence on games, but players, coaches and some owners, most notably Jerry Jones of the Dallas Cowboys, have dismissed those concerns.

“The unique thing about Las Vegas is it’s a jewel for our country,” Jones said in a recent interview. “It really can be a plus for the ‘wow’ factor and for the N.F.L.”

Read more: https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/19/sports/raiders-move-to-las-vegas-nfl.html?_r=0

[benld74]

1. The 3rd shoe has dropped

[Feeling the Bern]

2. Public costs for stadiums to enable private profits.

I enjoy professional sports, but fuck these parasite owners.

[still_one]

3. I am a forty nineer faithful, but the most loyal fans in the country are Oakland Raider fans, and

this is really sad

[montana_hazeleyes]

5. I totally agree with you still_one.

[yuiyoshida]

6. I wonder if the Raiders will change their name...

though I doubt it. Too much history involved. I some how see the NFL saying no to Las Vegas, while Betting on a game is not good, a team throwing a game to beat the odds and make extra money is a huge temptation. That team will never be trusted again.

[olddad56]

9. I was a 49er fan since i was 5 years old, until they moved to Santa Clara...

If the raiders move to Vegas, I hope they never win another game. Their devoted fans deserve better.

[still_one]

10. There are a lot of good reasons for it. 1. There is more land area in the south bay. 2. It is

still in the bay area, and it is still called the San Francisco 49ers.

I am in Santa Clara county, and everyone still identifies the team as the San Francisco 49ers, so from that perspective it isn't a big deal.

CandleStick had issues, and it was time for a new stadium. SF could have tried harder, but they made a judgement that it wasn't worth it.

No doubt it will bring in business to the South Bay, but frankly, it isn't going to take business away from the city. It just isn't that far away.

That you would suddenly stop being a 49er fan because they moved 40 miles down the road is kind of silly in my view

[flying rabbit]

4. Aptly named team for

Las Vegas.

[C Moon]

7. I was going to say, "Las Vegas Raiders." That sounds like a robbery gang.

[jmowreader]

11. There's a better fit but they'd need to move two teams

Step 1: Move the Giants from the Meadowlands to Vegas, and dub them the Sin City Giants.

Step 2: Move the team now in Oakland to the Meadowlands, and dub them the Wall Street Raiders.

[Trust Buster]

8. After decades of losing, the Raiders finally have a good team just to announce their departure.

First St. Louis, then San Diego and now Oakland. I keep thinking that society will reach it's breaking point with these publicly subsidized billionaires and millionaire athletes just to find out that that moment has still not arrived. I have my own issues, I live in a suburb of Cleveland LOL.

[PoiBoy]

12. Renderings of the proposed stadium...

http://www.architecturaldigest.com/story/oakland-raiders-proposed-las-vegas-nfl-stadium-promises-spectacular-views?mbid=social_facebook


If the stadium is realized and the Raiders make the move, the team will certainly play in one of the most innovative venues in the league. The company tasked with designing the arena is Manica Architecture, a Kansas City–based firm that specializes in the design of international sports venues. Indeed, Manica Architecture has been a part of numerous exciting projects around the world, including San Francisco's Chase Center (the soon-to-be home of the Golden State Warriors), the Wembley National Stadium in London, and the renovation of the Nou Camp stadium, home to the soccer team FC Barcelona.

The architects' proposal is a sleek, modern stadium featuring a horseshoe-shaped seating arrangement and an opening on one end to offer impressive views of Las Vegas’s fabled Strip. The domed structure will include 65,000 seats, but will be built to expand and accommodate up to 72,000 for larger events, such as the Super Bowl.