Raiders fans, better start booking those rooms on The Strip…for 2019.
After months of speculation and negotiation, it appears the Raiders move to Las Vegas will become official, possible as early as today. Via LA Times:
People with knowledge of the situation told The Times that both the stadium and finance committees — groups comprising 18 owners — will endorse the relocation Monday before the full membership of 32. It is not known whether those committees are unanimous in their support of the Raiders’ plan, but a significant majority favors it.
The team would be approved to move, but would not actually move to Sin City until 2019, reports SB Nation.
In the short term, the move appears to make a lot of sense. The Raiders’ Oakland stadium is, well, awful and the the bonus of spending a weekend in Vegas when going to a game should be exciting for not only Raiders fans, but fans of visiting teams as well.
As for the long term, who knows. Las Vegas has a much smaller population base than the Bay Area and has shown in the past to suffer more during an economic recession than the rest of the country.
But, at the very least, this move makes sense for owner Mark Davis as it cuts his travel time to Palm Desert to get that amazing haircut in half.
