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Relocation papers filed

relocation files — Relocation files were submitted 19th January, 2017

Mark Davis formally filed relocation papers with the NFL on 19th January.

Where Oakland failed to make any serious progress in their efforts to keep the Raiders, Las Vegas actively embraced the possibility of the team moving to Sin City. And now we know Mark Davis wasn’t calling Oakland’s bluff. Perhaps prompted by The Chargers’ decision to move to LA last week, thus cutting off one of the Raiders’ options, the papers were filed well in advance of the February 15^th deadline for doing so.

An official NFL statement read, “Today, the Oakland Raiders submitted an application to relocate their franchise to Las Vegas, as is provided for under the NFL Policy and Procedures for Proposed Franchise Relocations.”

That application now gets reviewed by various committees and league grandees before going to what really matters, a vote of NFL team owners. That vote could come as early as March 2017.

The Raiders require 24 votes from other team owners for the move to be approved.

Irsay Optimistic of Vegas Move

Jim Irsay, owner and CEO of The Colts told reporters at the NFL Winter Meeting in Texas that he thought that there was “a real want and real enthusiasm from the powers that be to have an NFL team there [Vegas]”. He also added that he thought Las Vegas could support an NFL team and that he saw little or no optimism with respect to a new stadium in Oakland.

Rather surprisingly, Comissioner Goodell echoed some of Irsay’s sentiments.

At the same meeting Irsay said he would be “surprised” if the San Diego Chargers exercised their option to relocate to Los Angeles before the January 15th, 2017, deadline. Adding that it would be “fruitless” for the league to extend the long-established deadline.

Goodell Pours Cold Water on Vegas Move

Roger Goodell Talks Vegas Move You can always rely on the much-loved NFL Commissioner to spoil a party. So it should not come as any surprise to those of us hoping for a Raiders move to Las Vegas that Roger Goodell poured cold water on the project.

Speaking at the NFL Fall meeting in Houston, he said the league had ‘miles’ to go’ before it would give the go-ahead for a franchise move to Vegas, and he wasn’t talking about the 410 miles separating the two locations. “There’s still a lot of information we need to gather,” Goodell said to reporters, “We need to study everything necessary for the long-term health of an NFL franchise. Like is there a fan base there? Is the stadium economics and fan experience at the level that we need? What is the impact on NFL policies?” He went on to refer to evaluation groups, surveys and a plethora of other stalling techniques beloved of grey-man committees up and down the land.

At least Goodell didn’t flatly rule out a move and even suggested The Membership vote might be more important than his own opinions.

Meanwhile, Mark Davis has been reassuring Nevada State Governor Brian Sandoval that he wasn’t using the possibility of a Vegas move as leverage for a better deal elsewhere. “If they come up with what we’re talking about, we’re gonna move to Las Vegas,” said Davis.