After officially filing relocation papers, the Oakland Raiders have hit roadblocks in their efforts to move to Las Vegas. Casino mogul Sheldon Adelson pulled his support from the stadium deal and Goldman Sachs recently followed suit.
With owner Mark Davis and his team now facing an uncertain future, cities will be looking to seize an opportunity to host an NFL team. According to Kevin Acee of San Diego Union-Tribune, San Diego may be one of those cities:
In the wake of Tuesday’s news that the Raiders’ bid for Las Vegas is in peril, Mayor Kevin Faulconer spoke with an NFL official to let the league know the city is eager to engage when appropriate. Multiple sources said another person representing the city exchanged calls with a Raiders official, though it is not clear whether the sides spoke.
The Raiders and the NFL were going to provide $500 million to the Las Vegas stadium project, with another $750 million coming from public funding from a statewide hotel tax increase. However, with Adelson and Goldman Sachs no longer in the fold, the team will now have to look for funding elsewhere.
With the Raiders move to Las Vegas in jeopardy, San Diego’s interest in bringing the team to them makes sense as the Chargers recently left for Los Angeles. If the city were to become a serious option for the Raiders, they would run into similar problems funding a new stadium as the Chargers did. Despite this, however, the city would be smart to start getting ready in the event that the Raiders could conceivably make their way to Southern California.
