Local Community Advertising
Chalk another one up for Las Vegas.
Less than a year after the city was granted an NHL expansion team, the NFL officially approved the relocation of the Oakland Raiders to Las Vegas.
The Las Vegas Raiders. pic.twitter.com/4wlmo0w35M
— NFL (@NFL) March 27, 2017
Two thirds of the league’s owners needed to approve the proposed move and it passed with a vote of 31-1.
Talk of the Raiders relocating is nothing new and once the Rams and Chargers made their moves to Los Angeles official, Las Vegas became the frontrunner for the Raiders relocation.
A stadium still needs to be built in Las Vegas, however, so the move won’t happen until at least the 2019 season.
The proposed future home of the Las Vegas Raiders. NFL owners are expected to vote on the move Monday. pic.twitter.com/cQZxVGAWQq
— Arash Markazi (@ArashMarkazi) March 23, 2017
“We plan to play at the Coliseum (Oakland’s stadium) in 2017 and 2018, and hope to stay there as the Oakland Raiders until the new stadium opens,” said Raiders’ owner, Mark Davis, in a written statement. “We would love nothing more than to bring a championship back to the Bay Area.”
Davis also said that the team is happy to refund season tickets to any Raiders fans in Oakland if they don’t want them.
The Raiders’ franchise quarterback, Derek Carr, also took to social media on Monday to address the news of the relocation.
— Derek Carr (@derekcarrqb) March 27, 2017
“As I sit here and see a vote that takes the Raiders to Las Vegas, I am overwhelmed with emotion,” said Carr. “I feel the pain of our fans in Oakland, but I also see the joy on the faces of our new fans in Las Vegas.”
Carr added that it doesn’t change the fact that the players will show up and give everything they have to bring a championship home to Raiders Nation.
Social media, as expected, was a little more candid than Carr when talking about the move.
Commissioner Goodell says they'll still be "Oakland Raiders" until they actually move. These next few years won't be awkward at all.
— Lindsay Rhodes (@lindsay_rhodes) March 27, 2017
The Raiders playing two more seasons in Oakland is like breaking up and having to live with your ex until the lease runs out
— Charlotte Wilder (@TheWilderThings) March 27, 2017
Hate this for Raiders fans. But honestly there should be a pool with Tiësto in the new stadium.
— Colleen Wolfe (@ColleenWolfeNFL) March 27, 2017
Local Community Advertising