If there was any reason to believe that the Oakland Raiders move to Las Vegas might fall through, that can now be thrown out the window.
The NFL itself is all about imagery. Its PR office has to run thousands deep. The idea is to paint the league in the best possible light.
Now that it has been reported that the Raiders will announce Saturday’s draft picks from the famed “Las Vegas” sign, it’s readily apparent that the league and the team are fully set on relocation.
NFL e-mailed a "sampling" of unique locations teams will announce Day 3 picks. #Raiders will do it from the Vegas sign, but it wasn't listed pic.twitter.com/m9E28B2HFB
— Jimmy Durkin (@Jimmy_Durkin) April 25, 2017
The interesting thing here is that a press release sent from the league announcing unique locations where picks will be made did not include Las Vegas.
The NFL has long feared backlash from a loyal Raiders fan base in Northern California. It’s also aware that announcing the relocation of three teams within just over a year likely doesn’t paint the league in the best of lights.
Either way, the imagery we see during this year’s NFL Draft will surely put one of the final nails in the coffin that is Oakland Raiders football.