OT It's official: Las Vegas Raiders

[Boston Boxer]

Good. Oakland was a **** hole.

Vegas > Oakland

Vegas is just a **** hole with glitter sprinkled on it.

 

[QuantumMechanic]

I acknowledge that the stadium situation in Oakland was not good, but neither was the one in Foxboro before the Krafts bought the team and cleaned out the element that existed that made it an embarassment to the league. The things that made Oakland unsafe was an OWNERSHIP problem. They didn't have the will to clean up the area and make it family and fan friendly

Unlike Gillette, isn't (well, wasn't) the Raiders' stadium owned by the city? Especially in looney-bin California, I wonder if that makes it tougher to keep out the undesireables...

 

[QuantumMechanic]

Worst as in least amount of coffee shops or malls? Or too many corp. offices and light industrial while having the least amount of residential?
All Santa Clara is "worst" in terms of cost and traffic.

And all the damned vampires. Oh wait. That's Santa Carla.

 

[chris_in_sunnyvale]

And all the damned vampires. Oh wait. That's Santa Carla.

The Oakland Raiders starring in:

"The Lost Boys"

Regards,
Chris

 

[NashuaPats]

Giving highly testosterone fueled, young men piles of money and moving them to Vegas with 24 hour bars, tons of strip clubs, and legal prostitution in the gambling center of the country... what could possibly go wrong?

#Integrity

 

[chris_in_sunnyvale]

Giving highly testosterone fueled, young men piles of money and moving them to Vegas with 24 hour bars, tons of strip clubs, and legal prostitution in the gambling center of the country... what could possibly go wrong?

#Integrity

It can get old. I've been to Vegas over 20 times, mostly for work, and haven't gambled even a penny for at least the last 12 times.

Then again, I'm not a multi-millionaire with gold diggers throwing themselves at me. Well, not for now anyway.

Regards,
Chris

 

[Nikolai]

Don't people tend to go to Vegas for Vegas stuff and not sports games? I think Golden Knights will fail hard because of this. Not convinced people will want to go to a hockey game out there. Raiders already have a dedicated fanbase so it outta work.

Yep, the Golden Knights will probably fail. Las Vegas is even more transient than Phoenix, and the Coyotes have struggled every year of the twenty years they've been there.

If the Raiders get into the postseason or if they want to host the Super Bowl in February, it's actually cooler than people might expect. Nighttime temperatures there in January and February are typically in the 40s and sometimes the 30s.

And of course, this move just oozes integrity.

 

[Tunescribe]

Good. Oakland was a **** hole.

Vegas > Oakland

Hole or not, it's always been central to their identity. The Raiders belong in Oakland, the Chargers belong in San Diego.

 

[NashuaPats]

It can get old. I've been to Vegas over 20 times, mostly for work, and haven't gambled even a penny for at least the last 12 times.

Then again, I'm not a multi-millionaire with gold diggers throwing themselves at me. Well, not for now anyway.

Regards,
Chris

I've been there several times with friends. It's a blast for 2-3 days, but that's about all I could handle. I couldn't imagine the temptations of living there as a 23 year old multi millionaire.

 

[TheBostonStraggler]

And all the damned vampires. Oh wait. That's Santa Carla.

Nice, just watched that the other night QM. And, ironically, the amusement park in Lost Boys is in the Bay Area (Santa Cruz).

 

[Patsfanin Philly]

I was just thinking that Mark Davis might be the ONLY middle aged man in North America who looks in the mirror every morning and PRAYS for baldness to start.

Maybe they have better barbers in Vegas...or better Barber schools,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,sure looks like that's where he goes......

 

[The Brandon Five]

Will they still be called "The Raiders"? I vote for "The Vegas Push".

 

[TheBostonStraggler]

Hole or not, it's always been central to their identity. The Raiders belong in Oakland, the Chargers belong in San Diego.

It's that same old identity clashes with business thingey .

The will they relocate media reporting was cute but the Raiders were destined to leave Oakland and this was all but set in stone years ago.

1. Oakland, right or wrong, was not going to pony up significant public money (none they would say in the media, some millions in backdoor money). Other cities, right or wrong, would pony up 9 figure subsidies.

2. Major League Baseball - when MLB agreed the Giants "own" the Silicon Valley making the Athletics bound to Oakland/Alameda county or some other metro area outside the Bay Area, no Silicon Valley, Oakland had their built in fall back. Lose the Warriors? Lose the Raiders? Ok, but the A's and their 81 games a year will be there (thanks to, IMHO, slimy backroom business that would make RG blush).

3. COB/POB in Oakland is astoundingly, amazingly, dysfunctionally brutal.

Winners:
Oakland Athletics (big! winner. Major subsidy for them gone in 4 years. Raiders uncertainy been holding them up at the Coliseum site. Now the Athletics are alone to use the Coliseum area)
Forty Niners (only game in a town that is thick as concrete with huge tech money)
Mark Davis (wow! Davis could sign all of the NYJ rejects and go 0-16 for the next 10 years yet his financial exposure looks almost zero).

Losers:
(IMHO) Clark County Taxpayers (an NFL team just can't be this good for city can it?)
(IMHO) NFL in the long term (the blur of gambling and the sport gets worse)

 

[patfanken]

Unlike Gillette, isn't (well, wasn't) the Raiders' stadium owned by the city? Especially in looney-bin California, I wonder if that makes it tougher to keep out the undesireables...

you can still take away season tickest from inappropriate people. If the stadium is a dump, you could have offerered to spend some money on the infrastructure. like fix the plumbing and security cams. You could add parking an NFL experience or other family friendly devices.

But no, the NFL only cares about how many luxury boxes a stadium has so they can invite their pals to come and watch a game or PSL's they can squeeze out of fans who are already asked to pay hundreds to go to a game. It's the only reason to build these new Stadiums. Gillette is the exception. Giants stadium was a GREAT place to watch a game....from the real seats. It was torn down ONLY to build a new stadium with more luxury boxes and sell PSL's. so the owners didn't have to put their own money. This is the real "moneyball" QM and what happens on the field has nothing to do with it.

THIS NFL leadership doesn't give a **** about the product on the field, and WON'T until it becomes so bad that the money stops flowing.

BTW- Anyone know where I can buy a knock off Superbowl LI championship cap. My XLIX one is getting worn, and I refuse to buy one that puts a dollar in their pockets.

 

[MainePatsFan26]

Giving highly testosterone fueled, young men piles of money and moving them to Vegas with 24 hour bars, tons of strip clubs, and legal prostitution in the gambling center of the country... what could possibly go wrong?

#Integrity

With a team already known for its undisciplined legacy...

If anything, I wonder how this move will affect teams visiting Las Vegas. Although most teams will try to keep its players from getting in trouble, I suspect league violations will go through the roof while visiting Las Vegas.

 

[Wordsmyth]

"Lost Wages Faders" doesn't have the same ring to it as "Chokeland Faders."

 

[Thelonious]

Outstanding. Anything that is bad for California is good for America.

As for the Sin City angle, I doubt very much the players will lack for sleaze-options wherever they may work, even in Boston!

 

[Thelonious]

There is so much wrong with this move I can't begin to start, but it is safe to say that the WWE-ification of the NFL continues on pace.

I acknowledge that the stadium situation in Oakland was not good, but neither was the one in Foxboro before the Krafts bought the team and cleaned out the element that existed that made it an embarassment to the league. The things that made Oakland unsafe was an OWNERSHIP problem. They didn't have the will to clean up the area and make it family and fan friendly.

Face it, Oakland is leaving because they just got a gift 3/4's of a BILLION dollars that I just read could expand to another $200,000 in state money. That's a billion dollar boondoggle to the Davis Family that the Nevada taxpayers have donated. Clearly the state doesn't need the money for schools, health care, or infrastructure. The irony will be that they will build a stadium that will be filled just 8 times a year mostly by people who don't live in Nevada. Yeah, THAT sounds like a sound investment.

Then there is the gambling issue. Folks THIS is where all the lines people use to bet BILLIONS of dollars every week are made. Now thwre will be 53 players and dozens of coaches, personnel and medical staff, who will be under costant and immediate pressure to disclose information. Think about it. Even if a player is in a casual conversation in a bar, and the wrong person hears him talk about someing he saw on film about another player, or a player on his team can be damaging to the fairness of the line. It doesn't need to be something overt, like a player in debt to a casino. It can be as simple as that, BECAUSE they are so close the real action.

Make no mistake about it. The NFL is in the gaming business. Between tihis and their investments in game day FF, there is no going back. Any further actions by the NFL to fight sports betting in other states won't be because any higher moral principles. It will be strictly because they will be trying to limit the competition.

So sure it will be more fun to go to a Pats/Raiders game in Vegas, than in Oakland. Sure it will be a better stadium to play in. But the NFL, if it realy had any "integrity", wouldn't be in Las Vegas. The ONLY reason there isn't a new Stadium in Oakland is because the NFL didn't want to front Davis the money out of their OWN pockets, and Davis wouldn't sell the team to someone who could. Why would they when they can get the project financed for free. AND get a check for over $12,000,000 just for voting yes.

In some ways I am almost looking forward to when this Golden era ends, just so I can completely divorce myself from this stinking corrupt carcass of a league. I'm at the stage now where the only redeaming quality of this league is THIS franchise and the way it's run. And yet even as I say these words, Bob Kraft is one of the 31 owners who voted their pocketbooks over any principles of loyalty, tradition, and morality. I look at the long term vision of professional football and all I see is Rollerball.

I'm not that exercised over the symbolism of a Vegas franchise - gambling has been with us since time immemorial - but I do agree that the only reason I care about the NFL is the current iteration of the team I have followed since its inception. I suspect the NFL will go the way of the NBA: lousy games played by malignant narcissists for whom it is impossible to root. I haven't followed the NBA for years, and I expect to feel the same about the NFL in a few years' time. Too bad, but there it is.

 

[Ivan]

This just in, Ambassador ( lmfao) Woody Johnson has announced that in honor of their impending 50 year absence from the Super Bowl the New Jersey Jets will be moving to Amsterdam.

In a secondary announcement Ambassador ( lmfao ) Johnson announced that he would very much like to sign Jimmy Garrapolo.

 

[Brit patriot]

This is the worst part of American sport for me. They are the Oakland Raiders, they should stay in Oakland. If not, you tell the fans they mean nothing.