Here is the link:

http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap3000000...sf50947517

Your thread title is a little misleading - they haven't filed yet - but it's really their only move now. Davis was waiting to see what Spanos decided. The Raiders are a much better fit in LA than the Chargers (they may be more popular than even the Rams) but Spanos got first right of refusal. And there is no viable offer on the table, or even close, in Oakland. I wonder, though, if it'll really work long term. Can Vegas support a team without weekend tourists? If not, will those folks keep coming in if the Raiders go through another long dry spell?

(01-14-2017 09:26 AM)Brookes Owl Wrote:  Davis was waiting to see what Spanos decided.

I think that's right. Spanos had to make his move now because the Raiders were not willing to "go first" and let Spanos have another year or two to hold the LA option before it passed to the Raiders.

The interesting thing about Goldman Sachs financing a Las Vegas stadium is the difference between that deal and the 49ers deal in Santa Clara. That deal protects the 49ers because financing for Santa Clara is effectively backstopped by the city; if revenue turns out to be insufficient to make the debt service payments, the city has to chip in. Presumably there is no such backstop in Las Vegas for the Raiders.

(01-14-2017 09:26 AM)Brookes Owl Wrote:  Your thread title is a little misleading - they haven't filed yet - but it's really their only move now. Davis was waiting to see what Spanos decided. The Raiders are a much better fit in LA than the Chargers (they may be more popular than even the Rams) but Spanos got first right of refusal. And there is no viable offer on the table, or even close, in Oakland. I wonder, though, if it'll really work long term. Can Vegas support a team without weekend tourists? If not, will those folks keep coming in if the Raiders go through another long dry spell?

1. Vegas is full of LA transplants, which means

2. They already have a built in fanbase and

3. Much of their SoCal fanbase already needed little excuse to make the trek to Vegas many weekends, let alone now with their favorite team there.

Vegas always has healthy amount of tourists, so that just adds to the pot.

The 1st superbowl held in Vegas is going to be awesome!

The only people who wanted the Raiders in LA were fans. Everyone else, from the league office, others owners and city officials were dead set against the idea

(01-15-2017 12:09 PM)vandiver49 Wrote:  The only people who wanted the Raiders in LA were fans. Everyone else, from the league office, others owners and city officials were dead set against the idea

Probably due to Mark Davis more than anything else, the league has wanted that family out of their owners club for a while.

(01-14-2017 10:21 AM)Wedge Wrote:  

(01-14-2017 09:26 AM)Brookes Owl Wrote:  Davis was waiting to see what Spanos decided.

I think that's right. Spanos had to make his move now because the Raiders were not willing to "go first" and let Spanos have another year or two to hold the LA option before it passed to the Raiders.

With the Vegas deal crumbling, it certainly looks like this assessment of a few weeks ago was right. Vegas wasn't looking good, and Davis would have jumped on the LA opportunity if Spanos hadn't moved there by the January 17 deadline.

It's even possible that the whole Vegas plan was a feint to try to make Spanos think the Raiders had no interest in LA, and to hope Spanos would thus pass on exercising his LA option in January ... but to assume that is so, you would have to give Mark Davis more credit for cleverness than his track record warrants.