Think the idea of moving the Oakland Raiders to Las Vegas is a new one for owner Mark Davis? Think again.
Davis has been dreaming about it since at least 1999.
Andy Abboud, vice president for government relations and community development at Las Vegas Sands Corporation, sat down with The MMQB’s Robert Klemko and let this awesome bit of information slip.
“With Mark Davis coming to the tourism meeting and doing the interviews this spring,” Abboud said. “If you go onto the website, we released a video about their commitment to the community, and knowing that the Davis family has always had an interest in moving the team to Las Vegas. Mark told me he bought the Las Vegas Raiders website in 1999.”
That’s some forward thinking right there. Back in 1999, the Internet wasn’t nearly as integrated in our lives as it is now.
Davis is now pushing extremely hard to get his team out of Oakland, where it looks like nothing will ever get done for a new stadium. The Raiders even released a promo video of their own recently touting the move (watch here). It’s quite clear watching it that the team is headed that way if the stadium gets funded and the NFL approves the move.
Abboud also said that “two or three years ago” he heard the Raiders were looking to move and that Davis told him he’d be interested in moving to Las Vegas around the same time. So, while many have suggested Davis is only now making a push to Nevada because he struck out in Los Angeles, it’s quite clear he’s been secretly pining for Las Vegas for a long, long time.
Las Vegas mayor, Carolyn Goodman, appears ready to help push things through on the funding side of things. Though she recently wondered about how the proposed room tax would fly, she made a definitive statement in favor of the move not days later.
Las Vegas Raiders? It sure seems like it’s going to happen.