Oakland Raiders owner Mark Davis has made it very apparent recently that he would like to relocate his team to Las Vegas, as a bill was passed in the state of Nevada to build a new stadium in Las Vegas for the Raiders should they make the move.
Davis originally wanted to make the move because the city of Oakland was unwilling to help him build a new stadium, something Davis greatly desires as the Raiders are the only NFL team that share their stadium with a baseball team.
A group, led by Hall of Famer and former Los Angeles Raider Ronnie Lott, has been trying to find a way to keep the Raiders in Oakland though.
Oakland mayor Libby Schaaf is confident that they will be able to make that happen, as she said that a framework deal was recently agreed upon, via NBC Bay Area:
“There is a framework that has been agreed upon and is currently in closed session with the county and will be in closed session on Nov. 29 with the city council,” Schaaf’s director of communication, Erica Terry Derryck, said. “Both bodies will review so we know if we can move forward.”
Jim Zelinski, co-founder of Save Oakland Sports, which launched the “Quedate in Oakland” rally in Mexico to try to keep the team in Oakland, is a little less optimistic that they team will stay in Oakland.
He believes that Davis, as well as some other NFL owners are committed to moving the Raiders to Oakland:
“But there are two big hurdles,” he said. “First, you need the buy-in of the most important stakeholder, (owner) Mark Davis. And two, don’t forget there are some very powerful owners who have lined up behind the Las Vegas deal.” Zelinski noted that despite what the mayor and Lott might have worked out, Davis has said repeatedly that he is ready to move to Vegas. “We’re behind Mr. Lott, but I don’t know what the mayor means by a “framework.”
For Davis to move the team to Las Vegas a majority of the league’s owners have to agree to the deal, which could bode well in the favor of Oakland.
A decision on what Davis plans to do will likely come at the end of this year.
