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NFL in Las Vegas is a lead-pipe lock, with or without Raiders
Sporting News
Vinnie Iyer
© (Getty Images) Mark Davis and David Beckham in Las Vegas
The NFL no longer can hide its cards — it's ready to go all in on Las Vegas.
The quickest draw to get there is relocating the Raiders from Oakland, and team owner Mark Davis has $500 million ready to make it happen.
First, the possibility of that happening wasn't ruled out by Roger Goodell. Then the commissioner expressed how the league is "evolving" in its stance in being more associated with legalized gambling.
Then came the Vegas endorsement of the Cowboys' Jerry Jones, arguably the league's most powerful owner. It went to another level Friday when another NFL heavyweight billionaire, the Patriots' Robert Kraft, gave his blessing to the Raiders, via USA Today.
"I think it would be good for the NFL," Kraft said. “I know Mark Davis has tried so hard in Oakland. If they won't do it … I want to support him.”
Vegas and its mayor, Carolyn Goodman, are waiting with open arms. It has taken a long time for the NFL power players to open their minds. As Goodell said in April and Jones earlier this month, Kraft echoed the sentiment that the so-called risks associated with Vegas no longer outweigh the entertainment reward.
In NFL-owner speak, that means everyone who counts has realized that Vegas, like Los Angeles for the Rams, is bigger money in the bank. Now that weekly fantasy football has blurred the lines of gambling on NFL games, that's no longer a hurdle in profiting from a team in Sin City.
It means the pitch Davis made to the Southern Nevada Tourism Infrastructure Committee in late April, offering to spend half a billion to help build a $1.6 million, 64,000-seat stadium on the Las Vegas Strip, has a lot more legs. It already had some when more photogenic soccer superstar David Beckham joined Davis in pitching that the stadium would also bring a Major League Soccer team to Las Vegas.
Read more: http://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/nfl...with-or-without-raiders/ar-BBtjawE?li=BBnba9I
Sporting News
Vinnie Iyer
© (Getty Images) Mark Davis and David Beckham in Las Vegas
The NFL no longer can hide its cards — it's ready to go all in on Las Vegas.
The quickest draw to get there is relocating the Raiders from Oakland, and team owner Mark Davis has $500 million ready to make it happen.
First, the possibility of that happening wasn't ruled out by Roger Goodell. Then the commissioner expressed how the league is "evolving" in its stance in being more associated with legalized gambling.
Then came the Vegas endorsement of the Cowboys' Jerry Jones, arguably the league's most powerful owner. It went to another level Friday when another NFL heavyweight billionaire, the Patriots' Robert Kraft, gave his blessing to the Raiders, via USA Today.
"I think it would be good for the NFL," Kraft said. “I know Mark Davis has tried so hard in Oakland. If they won't do it … I want to support him.”
Vegas and its mayor, Carolyn Goodman, are waiting with open arms. It has taken a long time for the NFL power players to open their minds. As Goodell said in April and Jones earlier this month, Kraft echoed the sentiment that the so-called risks associated with Vegas no longer outweigh the entertainment reward.
In NFL-owner speak, that means everyone who counts has realized that Vegas, like Los Angeles for the Rams, is bigger money in the bank. Now that weekly fantasy football has blurred the lines of gambling on NFL games, that's no longer a hurdle in profiting from a team in Sin City.
It means the pitch Davis made to the Southern Nevada Tourism Infrastructure Committee in late April, offering to spend half a billion to help build a $1.6 million, 64,000-seat stadium on the Las Vegas Strip, has a lot more legs. It already had some when more photogenic soccer superstar David Beckham joined Davis in pitching that the stadium would also bring a Major League Soccer team to Las Vegas.
Read more: http://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/nfl...with-or-without-raiders/ar-BBtjawE?li=BBnba9I
