Raiders’ possible move gains traction with media covering NFL

What’s the latest in Las Vegas’ pursuit of the Oakland Raiders — or any NFL team for that matter?

Here’s a recap of what was written over the weekend:

Pro Football Talk wrote that Las Vegas would be the fifth-smallest media market should the Raiders make the move.

Market size isn’t as important to the NFL as it is to the other major American sports leagues, but it does matter to the NFL: The league wants to be in markets with a lot of television households because the majority of the league’s money comes from the TV networks. The official NFL Record &Fact Book lists the Top 100 media markets in America, and that list shows that Las Vegas would be the NFL’s fifth-smallest market, if it had a team.

With 719,000 TV households, Las Vegas is larger than only four markets with NFL teams: Green Bay, Buffalo, New Orleans and Jacksonville. That’s why, as Falcons owner Arthur Blank pointed out, there are some concerns that the city simply might not be big enough to support an NFL team.

However, Vegas does have some advantages over other cities, from the NFL’s perspective: There are always lots of tourists there who might buy tickets to NFL games while they’re in town, and the Vegas market has historically had very strong TV ratings for NFL games. The league, of course, officially pretends that gambling isn’t the reason for those strong TV ratings, but whatever the reasons, Vegas has shown that it’s into the NFL.

SB Nation’s Bolts in the Blue speculated that a Raiders move by owner Mark Davis to Las Vegas might make far too much sense for the league owners to turn it down:

Here’s the thing for me: The old guard owners hate the gambling element while the new guard simply wants to maximize revenue. If the Nevada Legislature approves a (stadium) deal with $750 million in public financing, I simply can’t see 24 NFL owners leaving that money on the table — unless the NFL is that desperate to force Davis out.

Also, I think a lot of owners recognize having a team in Las Vegas is a win-win. This is my supposition, but it seems that if the Raiders perform well, games are sold out, and ticket prices are driven super high by people traveling to see a contender playing in Vegas for a sports weekend, especially Sunday night football games and playoff games. If the Raiders struggle, tickets are still bought by people traveling to Vegas to see their team play for a sports weekend. Having a national brand like the Raiders in Las Vegas only adds to the appeal.

The downside … you think Sunday night travel from Las Vegas to Los Angeles or San Diego is bad now? Just imagine adding several thousand football fans to that commute.

Speaking of the Chargers, a lot of talk was made about Las Vegas Mayor Carolyn Goodman’s comments on The Dan Patrick Show last week that the city would go after the Chargers if the Raiders don’t come to Las Vegas. But remember, the Chargers are trying to build a stadium in San Diego and have first option until January as a tenant in the Rams’ new stadium in Inglewood, California.

“My husband and I have had season tickets at the Chargers for the past 30-plus years and we would love that, and Alex Spanos already has some relationship with us here in the city — he’s been a developer for us in the ’70s and ’80s,” Goodman said. “I know they’re absolutely looking to move and that’s another place to go.”

Finally, the Bleacher Report’s Mike Freeman wrote that the push for the Raiders’ move to Las Vegas is happening faster than anyone anticipated:

As the months have passed since, and as the NFL’s dance with Vegas continued, people began to tell me the odds were increasing, like a thermometer reading from the fall to the spring. The percentages of the chances rose from 0 to 10, then 10 to 20, then higher.

Then just recently, in a conversation with an NFL owner about the Raiders and Vegas, I heard something that clarified just how far this has come. This owner said the percentage of the Raiders moving to Vegas “is now 50 percent — and maybe as high as 75.”

… The owner said that just three or four years ago there was no chance an NFL team would relocate there. “Las Vegas,” he said, “was considered poison.”

“That’s not the case any longer,” he said. “One of the things owners see is there’s a lot of money to be made there.” He laughed. “A lot of money will ease those gambling concerns.”

Freeman also wrote that Jerry Jones, who last week said he publicly supported a team in Las Vegas, has been trying to get Davis to sell the Raiders for years.

Jones did make his statement with an important caveat. He said he was open to a team in Vegas with “the right ownership.” What I’m told is that for years Jones has been pushing for Mark Davis to sell the Raiders—or, at the very least, to relinquish control of the team.

The feeling is that Davis is incapable of maximizing revenues and the brand, creating value for the team and league, improving the league or advancing its goals or agenda in general. (Other than that, Jones loves him.)

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

Bill Bradley is sports editor of the Review-Journal. He can be reached at bbradley@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2909. Follow on Twitter: @billbradleyLV