(Reuters) – The Raiders will soon file relocation papers to move from Oakland to Las Vegas, the National Football League’s official website reported on Saturday, citing sources familiar with the team’s plans. The bid to relocate in the shifting landscape of the NFL would require 24 votes from the league’s owners, three-quarters of the NFL’s 32 clubs, to win approval in a vote this spring.
The prospect of a Raiders move comes on the heels of the Chargers’ relocation from San Diego to Los Angeles to ultimately share a new stadium there with the Rams, who won approval to move back to the west coast from St. Louis. The decision by the Raiders to pursue a shift to Las Vegas came after a lack of progress over finding a viable stadium proposal with the city of Oakland, the report said.
If approved, the Raiders would become the second major professional sports franchise to be based in the U.S. gambling capital following the National Hockey League’s Vegas Golden Knights, who will begin playing in the 2017-18 NHL season. The Raiders have been weighing up two potential plans for a new stadium in Las Vegas.
When the Raiders officially file, the league and its owners will begin a process which is expected to take four to six weeks, with committees set up to analyze the move.
A vote by the owners could come during the late-March league meetings in Arizona or a special league meeting could be called.
Raiders owner Mark Davis has said publicly that even if the team moves, he plans on the team playing for the next couple of seasons in Oakland while a new stadium is built.
(Reporting by Larry Fine in New York; Editing by Ken Ferris)
Reuters
