Add Las Vegas to the host of cities that could serve as the new home for the Raiders, as the team has withdrawn its bid for a Los Angeles relocation.
A group of investors, including Las Vegas Sands owner Sheldon Adelson, were meeting with Raiders owner Mark Davis on Friday, according to the CSN Bay Area. The Raiders is not the only NFL team with whom Sands has communicated, said the Las Vegas Review-Journal.
Former Vegas mayor, Oscar Goodman, sought to bring a pro-sports team in on several occasions. The Las Vegas Sun reported the San Diego Chargers among those teams talking to Goodman in 2004, along with the Montreal Expos, Florida Marlins, and Chicago White Sox. Nothing seemed to stick, however, despite the Chargers having later sought, and since received, an option to move to Los Angeles.
A Sands spokesman released details on Thursday of a proposed 65,000-seat stadium. The domed stadium would come at a cost of $1 billion and sit just west of the UNLV campus. The university property could be shared between the Raiders and UNLV.
San Diego, Santa Clara, San Antonio, Portland, and Sacramento are among cities rumored to potentially house the Raiders in the future.
Las Vegas Mayor Libby Schaaf told CSN that the city is trying to smooth out plans to keep both the Raiders and the Oakland A’s. She said the city is ready to sit down with the Raiders and try to figure that out:
“The biggest hurdle is piecing together the phase of the development and the financing,” Schaaf said. “We are very excited that a new tool that we have is this potential for up to $100 million from the NFL for the Raiders if they can get the stadium done in Oakland that meets their needs.”
Schaaf continued, “We are confident that we can get this done without a direct public subsidy. We are willing to invest in the public infrastructure; that’s appropriate.”
On Friday, the Chargers announced plans to stay in San Diego for the 2016 season, according to The San Diego Union-Tribune. Chargers Chairman Dean Spanos said, “Today I decided our team will stay in San Diego for the 2016 season and I hope for the long term in a new stadium,” adding “We have an option and an agreement with the Los Angeles Rams to go to Inglewood in the next year, but my focus is on San Diego.”
Follow Michelle Moons on Twitter @MichelleDiana.
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