Oakland Raiders owner Mark Davis has steadfastly pursued a fallback option in his bid to move his team to Las Vegas ever since casino magnate Sheldon Adelson pulled out of the deal earlier this year. Now it appears he has his solution.
According to Vincent Bonsignore of the Los Angeles Daily News, the Raiders have informed the NFL that they have secured Bank of America to finance the Las Vegas stadium proposal instead.
This is significant news.
When Adelson pulled out, so also did Goldman Sachs, and suddenly Davis was $650 million short in his attempt to get a stadium built in Las Vegas. Now that significant roadblock appears to be a thing of the past, Davis can move forward with his plans pending NFL owner approval.
Of course, there is still the matter of the city of Oakland doing what it can to keep the Raiders in Northern California. A legitimate stadium proposal has been in the works that the NFL seems to favor, spearheaded by Ronnie Lott.
It’s going to be interesting to see what happens next. The Raiders have even recently been linked to the city of San Diego, which just watched the Chargers leave for Los Angeles. Davis has made no bones about his desire to move the franchise out of California and into Nevada, but it remains to be seen if the NFL’s owners will bless him in his quest.