If all plays out according to plan for the new Raiders stadium in Las Vegas, head coach Jack Del Rio envisions a Super Bowl being contested at the new venue very soon.
“It would be a natural, I would think,” Del Rio said per Paul Gutierrez of ESPN, just one day after the Raiders won the vote to relocate to Southern Nevada by a 31-1 count.
The team will reportedly not move to Vegas until 2020, which is when the new stadium is projected to be finished. And, the soonest the new Raiders stadium could house a Super Bowl would be 2022.
Del Rio elaborated on the logistics of the Vegas stadium hosting the Super Bowl.
“That would be almost an automatic, because when you’re designing it, you’ve got all the things you look for with the infrastructure, the hotels, the restaurants, everything that you need and would want, close proximity for all the events and things, the space to do all the events, and the beautiful weather. I think it’s going to be a natural fit for all that.”
Unfortunately, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell rained on Del Rio’s parade for hosting a 2022 Super Bowl.
“I don’t see it happening by then,” Goodell said.”
We shall see. What would even be sweeter obviously is if the Raiders actually played in a Super Bowl in Las Vegas, whenever it happens.
For now, Del Rio’s Raiders are blossoming into one of the most exciting teams to follow in the league. They won 12 games in 2016 and landed in the playoffs for the first time since 2002. A Super Bowl run is certainly not out of the question. And, a Super Bowl in Las Vegas at some point is a given.