Sarah Feldberg
Hell is renting ice skates. Pigs are zooming across the sky. Donald Trump's skin has returned to a shade found in nature. On March 27, NFL owners voted 31-1 in favor of the Raiders saying goodbye to Oakland and making the nine-hour journey to Las Vegas. (The sole dissenting vote: Miami Dolphins owner Stephen Ross.)
The vote was the culmination of a more than yearlong campaign by Raiders owner Mark Davis; local and state politicians; and business leaders such as Las Vegas Sands chairman and CEO Sheldon Adelson, who lobbied hard for the new stadium before pulling his pledge of $650 million toward its construction after being excluded from the team's lease-agreement negotiations. The Bank of America has since stepped in to provide a loan covering the same amount. The remainder of the $1.9 billion for the proposed 65,000-seat stadium will come from the Raiders ($500 million) and a public contribution ($750 million) funded by an increase in the Clark County hotel room tax.
Many thought this day would never come. The NFL has had a notoriously sour view on Las Vegas, prohibiting ads for the city during the Super Bowl telecast, allegedly threatening active players with suspensions if they appeared at a fantasy football expo quarterback Tony Romo planned to hold at the Sands Expo Center and, according to ESPN.com, banning officials from visiting Las Vegas during the NFL season.
According to current league rules, even outside of football season referees have to notify the NFL before stepping foot inside Sin City, and they're barred from visiting sports books or placing bets on any athletic contests.
Of course, with the Raiders setting up shop in Las Vegas by 2020, the NFL will have to revisit the rule book, not to mention its attitude toward the city in general.
Now that they're on the same team, so to speak, the potential for the league and Las Vegas to work together is immense. Las Vegas will have a shiny new toy to market to potential visitors looking for a reason to book that flight to McCarran. Meanwhile, the NFL, which has been trying to spread the football gospel abroad, gets access to the millions of international travelers who touch down on the Strip every year.
These are two promotional powerhouses adept at driving eyes and dollars to their product, and in order for the Raiders to succeed in Las Vegas; they'll both have to do just that. While most NFL franchises rely on hometown crowds and season-ticket holders, Las Vegas is on the smaller end of football markets. The Raiders will have to build a new, local fan base. Las Vegans often move to the city with no one to cheer for locally, so they've stayed loyal to franchises hundreds of miles away. The Las Vegas-Review Journal's map of NFL team bars shows venues dedicated to various teams throughout the city. The Packers have six.
In addition, Vegas has historically been lukewarm on supporting minor-league sports teams that have called the valley home. From the Las Vegas Wranglers hockey squad to the Las Vegas Outlaws arena football crew, various teams have made a go of it and folded.
Of course, the NFL is a very different beast, and proponents of the Raiders' move have estimated that roughly one-third of the tickets for each game will be sold to visiting fans. The Raiders have a rich history and a dedicated fan base not too far away, and Las Vegas has been clamoring for major league sports for years. With the NHL's Golden Knights slated for their first faceoff this fall, the Raiders will make two.
Still, if the team is going to make it in Vegas, new fans, old fans and opposing fans will all have to turn out to see the black-and-silver take the field. After years of shunning anything loosely related to Las Vegas, the NFL is betting that they will.