OT It's official: Las Vegas Raiders

[TB_Helmet]

Also I just thought of a good business in Vegas now. It would be to provide tailgate parties for visiting fans. Just a glorified catering company that delivers everything to the lots before the game that you couldn't fly in with, including grill and booze.

In that city everything is already provided for you if you have the $, this would be one more thing. Another reason why with this move the Raiders have destroyed any semblance of home field advantage. Dumbasses.

 

[XLIX]

I'm defining "chilly" as too cold to comfortably hang out in the hotel pool area (under 70 degrees) which is usually in the Fall over there.

Well, I submit to you that using that definition, about 80% of the league gets "chilly" by the time the season gets into full swing, so I hardly see that as a reason to keep a team out of Vegas.

The average October temperature is 82. It isn't until November that the average daily temperature drops to a frigid 67.

By January/February it's pretty darn cold. In Summer, it gets up over 100 degrees which is pretty miserable to walk around it.

Yes, summertime is the worst time to go there. Autumn is when it's perfect.

 

[TheBostonStraggler]

I would rate Levi stadium across the bay as the worst. That move from Candlestick to the worst part of Santa Clara was pretty bad.

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. There is no "worst" in terms of the common usage of the phrase (worst being a high crime area of town).

Hunters Point was a good spot on the peninsula, no doubt. For a 60 mile SF-SJ stretch, give or take, of dense population that little strip of land just to the east of 101 was a nice spot. But very clear upgrades came with Santa Clara because the Stick's weather sucked (major upgrade in Santa Clara), public transportation was non existent, and there was nothing around it (changing recently but SC with the Hilton, CC and Amusement Park is a big jump).

 

[Patstopia]

Anyone have any insight into the thought process of Raider nation? Will they follow blindly to Nevada, or will they give them the cold shoulder and ignore them from here on out?

 

[Patsfanin Philly]

I like having a rental car whenever I'm out that way. I enjoy driving around Red Rock Canyon and California is a relatively short road trip away. I get bored on the vegas strip really, really quickly.

Since tourism is the city's entire economy, it galls me that they welcome you with a tiny airport and make you wait in line for a shuttle to your rental car making your arrival extra miserable. Ever hear of the importance of a good first impression, Vegas?

They just built mass transit but it doesn't go all the way to the airport ( distance is comparable to Logan to Downtown Boston). Why? Because it would negatively impact the taxi drivers......... It tries to be a big time city but it is run like the mom and pop operation it was in the 50s.

 

[AtomicDawg]

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

Speaking of, here's a blast from the past on this historic day.

Pats' Past: The St. Louis Stallions

 

[YOUGOTMOSSED]

Well, I submit to you that using that definition, about 80% of the league gets "chilly" by the time the season gets into full swing, so I hardly see that as a reason to keep a team out of Vegas.

The average October temperature is 82. It isn't until November that the average daily temperature drops to a frigid 67.
Yes, summertime is the worst time to go there. Autumn is when it's perfect.

I remember being out that way for the opening weekend of football a few years ago at those newish hotels/casinos they open mid strip (Vdara or something like that) and had a good time.

I also remember being there at a private party at either Flamingo or Tropicana (forget which one) for the 2nd Patriots-Giants Superbowl . . . not so much fun.

 

[fourhour]

They just built mass transit but it doesn't go all the way to the airport ( distance is comparable to Logan to Downtown Boston). Why? Because it would negatively impact the taxi drivers......... It tries to be a big time city but it is run like the mom and pop operation it was in the 50s.

I talked with a cabbie there and he told me there are only 3 people in LV who own ALL the transportation systems, cabs, shuttles, limos, etc. And there is a light in the back window of all cabs that must be on when there are passengers in the cab. It is connected to the meter and prevents cabbies from skimming. There is serious money in tourist transportation.

Regarding the 31-1, or whatever the vote was; Does Miami forfeit the relocation fee distribution?

 

[YOUGOTMOSSED]

They just built mass transit but it doesn't go all the way to the airport ( distance is comparable to Logan to Downtown Boston). Why? Because it would negatively impact the taxi drivers......... It tries to be a big time city but it is run like the mom and pop operation it was in the 50s.

Well, I submit to you that using that definition, about 80% of the league gets "chilly" by the time the season gets into full swing, so I hardly see that as a reason to keep a team out of Vegas.

The average October temperature is 82. It isn't until November that the average daily temperature drops to a frigid 67.
Yes, summertime is the worst time to go there. Autumn is when it's perfect.

I don't mind the triple digit temperature so much as long as I'm near a pool surrounded by pretty girls in skimpy bathing suits.

I recall that even some of my visits to Vegas in the early Fall were a bit on the chilly side.

Maybe it's an upgrade from Oakland (been to SF but haven't had the "pleasure" of visiting Oakland) but I'll take San Diego any day over Vegas.

 

[TheBostonStraggler]

From your pal and mine (last letter to Oakland):

March 24, 2017

Hon. Libby Schaaf
Mayor City of Oakland
1 Frank H. Ogawa Plaza, 3d Floor
Oakland, CA 94612

Dear Mayor Schaaf:

We have had an opportunity to review the material your office released today regarding a stadium project in Oakland for the Raiders.

Before addressing the substance of the material, I want to personally thank you for your leadership and for the time and effort you have devoted to addressing the Raiders’ stadium needs and to keeping Oakland as an NFL community. As you have said more than once, the unquestioned need to replace the current stadium has been hampered by a long record of unrealistic and unkept promises that has complicated your efforts and constrained your options. I know from my own discussions with you, as well as those that have involved our staffs, that you and your team have made every effort to be accessible, creative, and diligent in exploring alternatives. I am grateful to you for doing so, and our member clubs are as well.

I particularly want to thank you for meeting on two occasions with our Finance and Stadium Committees, and much of our executive staff, most recently at our committee meetings on March 6. Those two committees consist of 18 owners and have devoted considerable time and attention to the Raiders. They will be presenting their analysis and recommendations to the full membership next week. Your presentations to those committees, as well as the many discussions between our staffs, have been valuable in giving us an understanding of the opportunity available to the Raiders in Oakland.

The material that we reviewed earlier today confirms certain information that had previously been communicated orally, such as a willingness to bring bank financing to a stadium project, and a proposed valuation of the land at the Coliseum site. It also confirms that key issues that we have identified as threshold considerations are simply not resolvable in a reasonable time. In that respect, the information sent today does not present a proposal that is clear and specific, actionable in a reasonable timeframe, and free of major contingencies.

In making this assessment, we recognize and accept the core negotiating principles that you have articulated as being appropriate to your community. A significant number of NFL clubs play in stadiums that have little or no public financial support (including the stadium being built in Los Angeles). We have long accepted your position that no public funds are available for stadium construction in Oakland. We also accept that you do not wish to exercise (and may not be able to exercise) the contractual termination rights related to the A’s.

We have been prepared for nearly two years to work on finding a solution based on access to land at a certain cost, without constraints on the location of the stadium or timing of construction, and clarity on overall development. However, at this date, there remains no certainty regarding how the site will be fully developed, or the specific and contractually-defined nature of the participation by Fortress or other parties. In addition, the long-term nature of the commitment to the A’s remains a significant complication and the resolution of that issue remains unknown. Other significant uncertainties, which we have previously identified, remain unaddressed.

We had hoped that the past two years would have allowed both of us to develop a viable project in Oakland. You have provided valuable leadership; for our part, our clubs have repeatedly delayed any relocation by the Raiders and committed an additional $100 million in NFL financial support (for a total of $300 million) to a stadium project in Oakland. We have had regular communications with you, your staff, and more recently with Mr. Lott and his colleagues. And of course, many of our owners have met with you directly, as noted earlier.

Despite all of these efforts, ours and yours, we have not yet identified a viable solution. It is disappointing to me and our clubs to have come to that conclusion.

At our upcoming meeting, the clubs will consider the Raiders’ application to move to Las Vegas. A key part of that discussion will be a thorough review of our collective efforts in Oakland. I will contact you promptly regarding any decisions made next week.

Thank you again for your leadership and for the material of earlier today.

Sincerely,

ROGER GOODELL

 

[XLIX]

I don't mind the triple digit temperature so much as long as I'm near a pool surrounded by pretty girls in skimpy bathing suits.

I recall that even some of my visits to Vegas in the early Fall were a bit on the chilly side.

Maybe it's an upgrade from Oakland (been to SF but haven't had the "pleasure" of visiting Oakland) but I'll take San Diego any day over Vegas.

The Quabbin Reservoir is an upgrade from Oakland.

 

[chris_in_sunnyvale]

Anyone have any insight into the thought process of Raider nation? Will they follow blindly to Nevada, or will they give them the cold shoulder and ignore them from here on out?

Obviously just one anecdote...

My girlfriend is a huge Raiders fan, as is her family. We attend at least one Raiders game a year. She and her sister DVR the games. Her sister hosted a big party for the wildcard round against Houston. All very knowledgeable about the Raiders history and can hold their own in a deep football conversation.

They are not happy at all with the move, but will still support the team. Vegas isn't far enough away to deter them. They say they bleed silver and black.

Regards,
Chris

 

[jmt57]

The NFL always rewards the city that shells out tax dollars for an NFL stadium by having them host a Superbowl.

I wonder if that was part of the (not public) deal here?

I will be very curious to see if the league hosts a Superbowl in Vegas in the relatively near future.

 

[zydecochris]

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.

Amen.

I was one of those that got pretty pissed at Kraft for not originally supporting Brady enough. I wanted him to be like a fan (which I guess is naive) instead of like a billionaire business owner. I was disappointed that it was all about the money with him (just like all of the other owners).

However, I guess I need to grade on the curve. At least Kraft isn't doing something like these scumbag owners who are breaking the hearts of countless fans by moving their teams just to get a few dollars more. As you say, it really is terrible. This article sums it up nicely, IMHO:

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2700271-raiders-move-to-las-vegas-shows-the-only-thing-that-matters-in-the-nfl-is-money

 

[Pats1989]

Patriots were on the verge of moving to St.Louis & Hartford. I feel for the fans in Oakland. However, they've had awful attendance for years. Stadium is a dump. The city has never been willing to do anything. Vegas makes more business sense.

 

[patfanken]

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.

 

[The Brandon Five]

#integrity

 

[patfanken]

Patriots were on the verge of moving to St.Louis & Hartford. I feel for the fans in Oakland. However, they've had awful attendance for years. Stadium is a dump. The city has never been willing to do anything. Vegas makes more business sense.

That is all true, but the reason for the Raiders playing in that dump is because the City of Oakland and the State of California refused to pay Davis' extortion demands. There were numberous ways he could have paid for a stadium, but they all involved HIM being responsible for most of the cost.

As far is it being a dump. Did the Raiders ever try and do anything to improve the Collesium over the years, or did they ljust watch while it fell apart.

Also the fact that Raiders games had become a bad place to go for families and other fans is ANOTHER thing that should fall at the feet of Davis. Foxboro was a bad place for families until Kraft took over, but he had the will to change that paradigm, and made it happen. Davis just cried poor mouth and let it happen.

Mark Davis has simply been more that a bad haircut, he's been a bad owner who was just lucky enough to win the genetic lottery. Unfortunately for Raider fans, he turned out to be less than half the man his father was.

 

[Pats1989]

That is all true, but the reason for the Raiders playing in that dump is because the City of Oakland and the State of California refused to pay Davis' extortion demands. There were numberous ways he could have paid for a stadium, but they all involved HIM being responsible for most of the cost.

As far is it being a dump. Did the Raiders ever try and do anything to improve the Collesium over the years, or did they ljust watch while it fell apart.

Also the fact that Raiders games had become a bad place to go for families and other fans is ANOTHER thing that should fall at the feet of Davis. Foxboro was a bad place for families until Kraft took over, but he had the will to change that paradigm, and made it happen. Davis just cried poor mouth and let it happen.

Mark Davis has simply been more that a bad haircut, he's been a bad owner who was just lucky enough to win the genetic lottery. Unfortunately for Raider fans, he turned out to be less than half the man his father was.

True points. There are not enough owners like Kraft around.

 

[The Brandon Five]

Wow, this whole thing practically fell out of the sky! What a surprise!

NFL allows players to engage in certain types of gambling