John Locher/AP
Oakland Raiders owner Mark Davis speaks during a ceremonial groundbreaking for the Oakland Raiders’ stadium Monday, Nov. 13, 2017, in Las Vegas.
Tuesday, Sept. 25, 2018 | 2 a.m.
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The Raiders have increased in value by nearly $1 billion since they initiated plans to move from Oakland to Las Vegas in 2016, according to Forbes.
The franchise is valued at $2.42 billion in the financial publication’s latest listing, making the Raiders the 18th most valuable team in the NFL. Dallas is No. 1 on the list at $5 billion; Buffalo is No. 32 at $1.6 billion. Forbes released its data last week.
In 2015, Forbes valued the Raiders at $1.43 billion, which ranked 31st out of 32 teams. But the following year, when talks of the potential move to Las Vegas and a new state-of-the-art stadium started to take shape, the team’s value surged 47 percent to $2.10 billion.
The record $750 million public contribution to the $1.8 billion stadium project was noted by Forbes for enhanced value. The stadium will also be funded through a $600 million loan from Bank of America and a $200 million loan from the NFL. Sales of personal seat licenses are expected to generate $250 million, which would go toward paying that debt back, the report states.
The Raiders and the Los Angeles Rams, who will also move into a new stadium for the 2020 season, will see their team values increase in future years, said Michael Ozanian, Forbes executive editor, who created the publication’s sports-team valuation lists.
But the Los Angeles Chargers, who will also play at the Rams’ Los Angeles-area stadium, won’t fare as well, he said.
“The Rams and Raiders values can still go up relative to rest of league because it's still unclear exactly how much stadium revenue both teams will get,” Ozanian said in an email to the Sun. “Chargers are much less likely to change because they will be tenants.”
