Las Vegas Sun

March 18, 2024

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Dear Oakland: Some lessons from St. Louis on losing your NFL team

Sandoval Signs Bills For Stadium and More Cops

Steve Marcus

Raiders owner Mark Davis poses with Raiders fans during a bill signing ceremony at UNLV Monday, Oct. 17, 2016. The bill will increase hotel room tax to help finance a $1.9 billion stadium.

Hey Oakland, St. Louis here.

It's over.

Please don't take this the wrong way. We're only trying to help. We used to be you.

First things first. Here's hoping the plan you have to keep your NFL team stops what seems to be inevitable now: The Las Vegas Raiders. But after sensing the unlikelihood of that from the latest round of NFL owners meetings, let the most recent city to go through the relocation ringer and lose offer an evaluation of your current situation.

1. Your owner, Mark Davis, is done with you. ESPN reported Wednesday that he plans in January to file papers to move the Raiders to Vegas. Davis made his intentions clear during this week's meetings in Houston.

"Oakland was in the driver's seat if they could've put together anything," he told reporters on Wednesday. "They came up with nothing."

2. The kingpin of the NFL cartel, Jerry Jones, is rooting against you. His power shouldn't be underestimated. Neither should his self defense. Helping send the Raiders to Las Vegas keeps them out of San Antonio, a potential landing spot that would threaten Cowboys turf.

"I would say, 'Amen,'" Jones told USA Today when asked about the potential move.

3. Another rich egomaniac, casino mogul Sheldon Adelson, somehow persuaded Las Vegas to pledge $750 million in public funds toward his proposed stadium near the Vegas strip. That's on top of the $650 million Adelson is willing to fork over.

"I don't know what there is to say other than, 'Congrats, Raiders on getting the largest public subsidy ever and cleaning up our L.A. (mess)," a source familiar with the Raiders' presentation to owners told ESPN.

4. Your mayor, Libby Schaaf, refuses to abandon a logical stance that says pro sports shrines might not be the best use of public funds. She's been working with the county and former Raider Ronnie Lott to come up with a proposal, but there's no way its bells and whistles will match the ones luring Davis to Las Vegas.

"I cannot afford for us to be thrown off our game because Nevada lawmakers have deemed it appropriate to put $750 million in public (money) towards a private sports facility," Schaaf said Wednesday in a statement. "While I'm committed to keeping the Raiders, I will not enter a bidding war with Nevada using public funds."

5. NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell isn't just pumping the brakes on the story, he's making it sound like you have a chance.

"We would love to have the Raiders stay in Oakland," Goodell told reporters Wednesday. "We think that's a positive thing. But we've been clear the last couple of years that it requires long-term resolution to their stadium. We still don't have that solution. Our staff is working with the mayor and officials in the Oakland area to see if there are alternatives out there, but we don't have one yet."

In reality, Goodell is setting you up to be the fall guy. So when your team does take off, he can say you didn't do enough to keep it. Doing enough, it's important to remember, is a completely subjective term. If another city does more, you didn't do enough. If your owner is determined to leave no matter what, you didn't do enough. See how that works?

Altogether this list reads like a recipe for how to lose your team. It's a bitter dish, one St. Louis is still digesting. Perhaps it would have gone down a little easier if someone had sent a heads-up, a reminder that any attempt to derail the desires of the NFL's inner circle will be fruitless in the end.

Sure, some were screaming this from the rooftops in St. Louis. But there also were times it felt like the outcome could be altered. Perhaps the public meetings could sway the league. Maybe the stadium task force could persuade Rams owner Stan Kroenke to reconsider. Some free advice: Don't fall for it, Oakland.

And two other suggestions:

1. Don't expect the relocation guidelines to do anything except bend and twist to help justify the league's decision. Here's how Amy Trask, a former Raiders executive, explained it during an interview with "2-Sport Town", the Post-Dispatch's NFL podcast:

"Whenever I was asked about precedent over that 30-year period I was part of the league, I smiled," Trask said. "Because precedent is whatever the owners decide it will be on any given day. When someone says to me, Amy, what are the rules about relocation? The rules about relocation are whatever the owners choose them to be. And ownership can change its mind. When we are talking about these issues — precedent, team relocation, relocation fees, home markets, market support — whatever three quarters of the owners want those rules to be at the time are what those rules are."

2. Don't take any comfort in any reporting of any number of owners who will vote against the plan to relocate your team.

The league probably does have concerns about Sin City's gambling ties and market size. And yes, it takes just nine objecting owners to block a move. But it's stunning how fast those votes slide to one side once the doors close. A reminder: St. Louis made a good faith effort to keep its team after a bad lease gave owner Stan Kroenke an escape hatch. The NFL committee on relocation suggested the Chargers get the nod to relocate. The owners then picked the Rams instead, but needed multiple votes — and a surprise switch to secret ballots! — to make it happen. See what we mean about precedent?

Oakland and San Diego looked like winners when the NFL decided to send the Cleveland Rams "home" to Los Angeles after two decades here in St. Louis. Now it seems Oakland's pain was only delayed.

It will hurt, just like when the late Al Davis moved the Raiders to Los Angeles in 1982. But remembering the entire process is rigged should at least offer Oakland some solace.

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