The Oakland Raiders days in Oakland are now numbers it seems, as owner Mark Davis officially filed the relocation papers to move the team to Las Vegas on Thursday morning.
The state of Nevada recently passed a bill to approve the building of a in Las Vegas with the intentions of the Raiders relocating there. $750 million of that will come from taxpayer money, with the rest coming from the NFL, Davis himself and Las Vegas casino mogul Sheldon Adelson.
Oakland, with the help of Ronnie Lott and his investment group, responded with a deal to build a new stadium in Oakland, but that deal is now reportedly off the table since the relocation papers to move to Las Vegas has been filed.
Thursday morning the NFL released this official statement on the Raiders relocation, via Brian McCarthy from the NFL league office:
Our statement re Raiders. pic.twitter.com/Ru4BNulNUK
— Brian McCarthy (@NFLprguy) January 19, 2017
As the league states, the only hurdle that remains before the Raiders end up in the desert is a majority vote by the owners to approve the move, meaning 24 of the 32 owners need to vote in favor of it.
Many owners, including Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones, have vocalized their support for the Raiders possible move to Nevada, so it is expected that getting that majority vote to pass will not be an issue for Raiders owner Mark Davis.
The Raiders will become the third franchise to move cities in the last year, as the St. Louis Rams moved to Los Angeles a year ago and the San Diego Chargers followed suit this past week. Las Vegas would become the Raiders third home, as they moved from Los Angeles to Oakland after the 1994 season.
If the vote is passed and the move does end up happening, the Raiders will still play at least two more seasons at the Oakland Coliseum while their new stadium in Las Vegas is being built.
The Raiders will become the second pro franchise to call Las Vegas home, as an NHL expansion team, the Las Vegas Golden Knights, will begin playing there next season.
