He stepped to the podium and said, “I’m excited to announce here today the 14th pick in the NFL Draft…” “That’s what Las Vegas is going to provide us, and it’s going to be a great marriage”, said Davis.
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“Let’s give them [the NFL] an offer they can’t refuse”, said Davis.
Despite the report from CBS’s Bay Area affiliate, it seems doubtful that Davis can get 24 owners – “new school” or not – to marry the league to legalized gambling interests in Las Vegas, no matter how nice a stadium the Raiders can get.
Davis’ representatives said during a press conference following the meeting that there has been no progress in securing a stadium in Oakland.
Raiders and Oakland have been synonymous with each other for many years. “Majestic Realty and Ed Roski are a serious, professionally run organization that knows the complexities surrounding the business of sports”, Dolich said. The other $750 million would be covered by tourism taxes.
The group also is asking to create the Clark County Stadium Authority, similar to the authority that oversees the Oakland Coliseum and Oracle Arena. He has met with Davis and the Sands Corporation, led by Sheldon Adelson, who is heading the 65,000-seat stadium project. Beckham is the head of an ownership group of a Major League Soccer expansion team in Florida.
A move to Los Angeles is still an option for the Raiders, if the San Diego Chargers elect to remain in San Diego instead of joining the Los Angeles Rams in Inglewood, California. Davis said Thursday morning that the Raiders would commit $500 million to the project, which also received support from MLS owner and soccer icon David Beckham.
“It’s an uphill struggle, but it has some potential”, he said.
Speaking to the Southern Nevada Tourism Infrastructure Committee during its meeting at UNLV, Davis pledged to contribute $500 million toward the project if public financing is approved. It can be expected to make a recommendation to the state legislature. He insisted he wasn’t trying to use Las Vegas as a bargaining chip, and spoke of a “lifetime” commitment to the city.
The LVCC is an economic engine that helped draw 6 million visitors to Southern Nevada previous year, filling our hotel rooms and restaurants and winning us enormous positive media exposure world-wide. It is Las Vegas.
The hard part may be getting approval from the National Football League owners for the move. In the clip below, you can see the airport, followed by the 42-acre stadium site, followed by the strip. Funnily enough, the most recent Raiders lease extension allows the Raiders to play one “home” preseason game per season away from the Coliseum.
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League owners gave the Chargers – who are pursuing a new stadium and convention center in downtown San Diego – a one-year option to join the Rams in L.A. The teams agreed on terms shortly before the Chargers chose to play the 2016 season in San Diego.
