The Oakland Raiders will be the Oakland Raiders no more. Today, in a 31-1 vote, the owners have approved the Raiders for relocation to the desert in Las Vegas. The Raiders have two one-year options at the current Coliseum site and Mark Davis expressed he wants to play in Oakland while the stadium is constructed in Las Vegas.
First and foremost, I can sympathize with the fans and the season ticket holders in Oakland and in the Bay Area. I can't imagine getting your heart torn out a 2nd time and maybe losing them for good. I remember my first and only Raider game in the Coliseum in 2011 vs. the Chicago Bears and the atmosphere is something that can't ever be replicated. I expressed that I'll still be a fan as long as the Raider name, logo, and colors are there, but they belong in Oakland. I'm listening to Libby Schaff and the Oakland City Council and I can agree with this, the City of Oakland never had a chance to negotiate with Mark Davis. Mark Davis was spending his time and resources in funding a stadium elsewhere. San Antonio and Carson are exhibits A and B. Mark has said he tried everything to stay in Oakland, but how? There's no question, the City of Oakland had ample time to do something and they sat on their hands. But, something just doesn't add up here. If the City of Oakland had a plan with Ronnie Lott and Fortress, why didn't Mark Davis consider weighing the options between that plan and the Las Vegas plan? If Mark Davis can easily find investors and banks to fund stadiums out-of-state, why didn't he find a single investor in the booming Bay Area to fund a stadium in Oakland?
With this relocation approval, I feel there's a lot of uncertainty and a lot of unanswered questions here. What happens to us here in the Bay Area who watch the Raider games on TV? It seems that the logical answer would be to get NFL Sunday Ticket just to watch the Raiders. But, is there a chance that they will still be televised locally here in the Bay when they move to Vegas? Is the NFL willing to take a big risk from moving to the 6th best market with an economy continuing to trend up to the 40th best market that is heavily contingent on the health of the economy? How will the NFL make up for that lost TV revenue? They lost a lot due to low ratings from last season. Fans who support the move say that Raider Nation is everywhere and they will sell out. Las Vegas is a tourist town and it will certainly draw a 50/50 crowd because of fans from the opposing teams will travel. Where will the home field advantage go? And most importantly, how will players from both the Raiders and the opposing teams handle the distractions in Vegas before game day?
This whole relocation thing reminded us that "cash is king" and "money talks." There was no way the NFL would say no to $750 million in free money and a possible Super Bowl venue. That's the harsh reality folks. Oakland refused to fork over that amount of taxpayers' money and that didn't sit well for the Raiders nor the NFL. Greed wins in the end. The same thing happened to the Rams and the Chargers, and the Raiders followed suit. I just sit here and wonder how the NFL can handle burning bridges with three home markets in less than a year. Ultimately the losers here are the fans, the season ticket holders in Oakland. But, the residents of Las Vegas may end up being the biggest loser here because of the astonishing amount of $750 million they need to fork over for the stadium. It's a ridiculous amount.
In conclusion, I'll affirm that I'm not burning any Raider merchandise. Even though they're moving to Las Vegas, I'm still going to rep my "R8DR4L" sweatshirt and it does mention "Oakland" on it. I'm not burning it nor am I selling it, I'm still going to rep it. I'm still going to rep my Darren McFadden #20 Raiders jersey (even though he's with the Cowboys). I'm still going to rep my "Committed For Life, The Nation You Love to Hate" shirt. I'm still going to rep my Raiders Football shirt. And I'm still going to wear my Raiders' hat with the old AFL helmet. I'm sad they won't be in the Bay Area any longer, but you do what you gotta do from a business standpoint. If I'm Mark Davis, I should probably stay away from the Coliseum and away from the Oakland-Alameda area because they're gonna make his life a living Hell. The city may change, but as long as the name, logo, and the colors, Silver and Black are still there, I'm still on board.
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