There has been a lot of talk throughout the course of this season about Oakland Raiders owner Mark Davis wanting to move the team to Las Vegas if Oakland does not help him build a new stadium.
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 would 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 it appears that was not enough.
According to Ian Rapoport of NFL Network, the Raiders will file the relocation papers to make the move to Las Vegas:
Sources: #Raiders WILL file relocation papers to move from Oakland to Las Vegas. Pending a vote of the owners, the @NFL enters a new world.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) January 14, 2017
As Rapoport pointed out, when the papers are filed the next step would be for the NFL owners voting to approve the move, and that will likely come within the next month. Many owners, including Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones, have vocalized their support for the Raiders possible move to Nevada.
If the move does end up happening then 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.
