Mark Davis isn’t backing down from his expressed interest in moving the Oakland Raiders to Las Vegas. If anything, he’s doubling down.
Speaking about a potential move on NFL Network, Davis says he’s excited about the possibilities if the Raiders were to move from Oakland to Vegas.
“I’m excited about it,” Davis said, via Pro Football Talk. “It’s a new market. It’s got the potential to be a really exciting market. . . . The Raider fan in Northern California get upset a little bit when we talk about going to Los Angeles, and the L.A. fans get a little ticked off at the fans in Northern California, so it seems like Las Vegas is a neutral site that everybody’s kind of bought into. It will unite the Raider nation more than divide it.”
Davis recently had a second set of meetings with folks in Las Vegas surrounding a potential domed stadium in partnership with The Sands. He came away from those talks very encouraged but isn’t yet ruling out the idea of keeping the Raiders in Oakland. In fact, he recently met with a group, led by former Raider Ronnie Lott, that has a proposal for a new stadium in Oakland.
That said, Davis does seem to be leaning heavily towards Vegas these days.
“I’ve given my commitment to Las Vegas, and if they can come through with what they’re talked about doing, then we’ll go to Las Vegas,” he said.
Other owners seem to be throwing their support behind the idea more and more these days. Furthermore, the NFL has not ruled out the city as a viable destination for the Raiders, or any other team.
Things are getting more and more interesting as the Raiders continue to struggle with the city of Oakland. At this point, it seems inevitable that they’ll be moving in the near future.