NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell: No compromises if Raiders’ Las Vegas move approved

NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said Wednesday that if the Raiders’ proposed move to Las Vegas is approved, the league would not compromise “any of its policies.”

Goodell did not elaborate on those policies while being interviewed on Colin Cowherd’s show on Fox Sports Radio.

“One thing we can’t ever do is compromise on the game,” Goodell said. “That’s one of the things we’ll do is to make sure the policies we’ve created (will be followed).

“If we did in any way approve the Raiders’ move, I don’t see us compromising on any of the policies.”

These were Goodell’s first comments about the Raiders’ possible move since owner Mark Davis applied for relocation from Oakland to Las Vegas last Thursday.

NFL officials did not respond to requests for clarification, though Goodell and Cowherd were discussing sports gaming.

The Raiders would play in a 65,000-seat, $1.9 billion domed stadium in Las Vegas that calls for $750 million in public funding from a Clark County hotel room tax increase, plus contributions of $650 million from the family of Las Vegas Sands Corp. Chairman and CEO Sheldon Adelson, and $500 million from the Raiders.

Cowherd asked Goodell if NBA Commissioner Adam Silver’s public embracing of gambling has influenced the NFL in considering Las Vegas as an NFL city.

“We’ve seen the changes in the culture around the country in gambling,” Goodell said. “We’re sensitive to that, but we’re also going to evaluate the Raiders case in the relocation application for what’s in the overall best interests of the league.”

Goodell is expected to discuss the Raiders’ move again Wednesday when he holds his state of the league address in Houston before Super Bowl LI.

The Review-Journal is owned by the family of Las Vegas Sands Corp. Chairman and CEO Sheldon Adelson.

Bill Bradley can be reached at 702-387-2909 or bbradley@reviewjournal.com. Follow @billbradleyLV on Twitter.