NFL approves Raiders' move from Oakland to Las Vegas
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}March 25, 2017: John P. Kelleher holds up a sign outside the Oakland Coliseum before the start of a rally to keep the Oakland Raiders from moving. (AP)
NFL owners approved the Oakland Raiders' move to Las Vegas at league meetings Monday despite a plea from the California city’s mayor to delay the vote over a potential last-ditch stadium deal.
The vote was 31-1.
Today is an historic day for Nevada. The @raiders are moving to #LasVegas! This will change the face of Las Vegas and our state forever. pic.twitter.com/iKVlKd4cas
— Steve Sisolak (@SteveSisolak) March 27, 2017
The vote was a foregone conclusion after the league and Raiders were not satisfied with Oakland's proposals for a new stadium, and Las Vegas stepped up with $750 million in public money. Bank of America also is giving Raiders owner Mark Davis a $650 million loan, further helping convince the owners to allow the third team relocation in just over a year.
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The Rams moved from St. Louis to Los Angeles in 2016, and in January the Chargers relocated from San Diego to LA. The Raiders likely will play two or three more years in the Bay Area before their $1.7 billion stadium near the Las Vegas strip is ready, Fox 2 reported.
Oakland's mayor earlier Monday asked NFL owners to delay voting on the move, wanting to give her city a chance to negotiate with a small group of owners to complete a stadium deal at the Coliseum site.
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"Never that we know of has the NFL voted to displace a team from its established market when there is a fully financed option before them with all the issues addressed," Mayor Libby Schaaf said in a statement. "I'd be remiss if I didn't do everything in my power to make the case for Oakland up until the very end."
Schaaf said the city had presented a $1.3 billion plan for a stadium at the Coliseum site that would be ready by 2021. She said the existing Coliseum would be demolished by 2024, with the Oakland Athletics baseball team either moving to a new stadium at the Coliseum site or somewhere else in the city.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}She also asked for owners to conduct a secret ballot on the vote, as was done last year when the league approved the Rams move from St. Louis to the Los Angeles area. The Raiders had hoped to move back to LA, where they played from 1982-94, to share a stadium with the Chargers, but were rejected by the owners.
Schaaf said the Raiders have refused to negotiate with the city on a new stadium since completing a short-term lease last March that gave the team options to play at the Coliseum in 2017 and 2018.
The city had a deal with the Fortress Investment Group and a group led by Hall of Famer Ronnie Lott to build a stadium at the Coliseum site. Fortress would provide $600 million in a traditional loan, with the Raiders and NFL committing $500 million and the city giving $200 million for infrastructure funding.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"We believe that moving the Raiders will be a negative `tipping point' for the NFL," a group of Raiders fans said in a letter also sent to NFL owners. "Thousands of fans may very well be turned off forever by what they perceive is the NFL's lack of loyalty to its most important constituents -- the fans!"
Meanwhile, Las Vegas, long taboo to the NFL because of its legalized gambling, is getting an NHL team this fall, the Golden Knights.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The Associated Press contributed to this report.