SBC News Voice of the Sports Betting Industry
The project to relocate the Oakland Raiders to Las Vegas has gained the endorsement of two significant power brokers in Jerry Jones (owner of the Dallas Cowboys) and Robert Kraft (owner of the New England Patriots).
A month following the relocation proposition put forward to NFL officials, Jones, and Kraft who own two of the NFL’s biggest and most lucrative franchises have publicly stated that the move would be in the NFL’s best interests.
Speaking to US sports media, Kraft stated that Las Vegas’ association with gambling would no longer be a harm to the NFL’s reputation as the City had outgrown its reliance on the casino industry focusing on wider entertainment.
From its inception, the Vegas Raiders project has been supported by Sands Corporation billionaire Sheldon Adelson, who has urged city officials to approve plans to part fund a +60,000 seater stadium.
The saga of the Raiders relocation stems from owners the Davis family ongoing dispute with Oakland city officials relating to the building of a stadium for the NFL stadium.
The Davis family remain unhappy at Oakland city for not granting any public funding towards the building of a new stadium. At present The Raiders share the Oakland O.co Coliseum with MLB baseball team and stadium owners the Oakland Athletics.
Unmoved by appeals and threats of relocation, Oakland governance has stated that the city (population 400,000) has no need for two +50,000 seater stadiums.
Last month, Mark Davis Managing General Partner of the Oakland Raiders stated that the family was prepared to spend $500 million in relocating to Las Vegas as long as the project was supported by Las Vegas city governance.
