Roger Goodell not ruling out Las Vegas as potential home for NFL team

BOCA RATON, Fla. — NFL commissioner Roger Goodell isn’t dismissing Las Vegas as a potential home for an NFL franchise when asked about Raiders owner Mark Davis’ interest in moving his team to Southern Nevada.

Traditionally, the NFL has strongly opposed the idea of America’s gambling capital hosting a franchise. After being passed over for relocation to Los Angeles in January, Davis has shown interest in moving to Las Vegas or other cities if he’s unable to get a new stadium built in Oakland, California.

“Mark Davis is appropriately looking at all his alternatives,” Goodell said Wednesday.

In late January, Las Vegas Sands announced plans to build a $1 billion, 65,000-seat domed stadium near the UNLV campus on 42 acres of land along Tropicana Avenue east of Koval Lane. The proposed project would involve UNLV as well as Los Angeles-based Majestic Realty.

Davis has toured the proposed site and met with Las Vegas Sands Chairman and CEO Sheldon Adelson about the possibilities of the Raiders playing in the stadium. Davis also has met with Nevada Gov. Brian Sandoval about bringing his team to Las Vegas.

When asked specifically about legalized gambling in Las Vegas, Goodell said: “Those are things we’d have to deal with. We would have to understand the impact on us. Each owner would have a vote; it would be a factor many owners would have to balance, the league would have to balance.”

Because of the NFL’s stance against gambling, the prospect of doing any sort of business in Las Vegas had been taboo in the league for decades. While Goodell denied there has been a philosophical shift on the subject, he didn’t completely reject the idea of the Raiders winding up in Las Vegas.

“I think their ultimate decision is a long ways off,” Goodell said. “There are several cities that have a tremendous interest in the Raiders. I’m hopeful also that Oakland will be one of those and that we can avoid any relocation to start with. … But until we’ve got a hard proposal that really put that in front of us, we’d have to understand what the ramifications of that are.”

The Raiders have an option to join the Rams in Los Angeles, but only if the Chargers first decline it and remain in San Diego. Davis and his late father, Hall of Fame owner Al Davis, have failed for years to get public financial support to build a new stadium in Oakland. The Raiders share a stadium with baseball’s Athletics.

Las Vegas could be a viable alternative for Davis and the Raiders should he be unsuccessful in his attempt to get a new stadium in Oakland.

The proposed Las Vegas stadium would be the ideal place for UNLV football. It also could host numerous other events, including an NCAA men’s basketball Final Four, World Cup soccer or Major League Soccer, an NHL Winter Classic or Stadium Series outdoor hockey game, concerts, boxing and mixed martial arts events.

The Review-Journal is owned by a limited liability company controlled by the Adelson family, majority owners of Las Vegas Sands. The Las Vegas Review-Journal contributed to this story.