Sheldon Adelson Continues His War of Words Against the Oakland Raiders
Over the weekend Richard Velotta, of the Las Vegas Review-Journal, spoke with Andy Abboud, spokesperson for Sheldon Adelson, and Vice President of Sands Corporation. If you read the article, Mr Abboud did not mince words.
To be perfectly clear this was a message directly from Sheldon Adelson to both, the Oakland Raiders, and NFL. He is not happy about the NFL rules on gambling applying to him. His reasoning is that the NFL has partnered with Daily Fantasy Sports, which he views as a form of gambling. Because of this, Adelson feels the NFL is being hypocritical in its policy, by all reports.
With all do respect to Mr. Adelson, and Andy Abboud, it was Adelson’s camp that was being obtuse in these negotiations. Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio also reported the same thing. Adelson knew the rules and expectations of the NFL going into these negotiations. Yet it was Adelson who blindsided the Raiders and Mark Davis multiple times by attempting to negotiate through the media.
First it was the Yahoo Finance exclusive interview in September, where Adelson said he wanted a stake in the team for his grandson. Then there was the Yahoo News exclusive interview in October, where Adelson said he could take the deal or leave it. The coup de grace of course was publicly announcing he was walking away from the deal. All of this came as a total surprise to the Raiders.
Adelson’s recent statements seem disingenuous.
First we heard that Adelson said he knew nothing about the lease proposal that the Raiders put forward at the January 26th Las Vegas Stadium Authority meeting. And yet Andy Abboud sat next to Mark Badain during the presentation. Not only that, but Mark Davis was meeting with Sheldon Adelson at that same moment. If that is not enough, the Stadium Authority at the February 9th meeting specifically asked the Raiders to write up the proposal. Also this was the “team only” portion of the deal. And the deal has been structured that way from its inception.
Secondly we are told the Raiders “asked for too much” and tried to “Pick Adelson’s pockets”. That all Adelson wanted was a two to three percent return on investment. Really? I do not recall Sheldon Adelson being that magnanimous at the SNTIC meetings. Andy Abboud made it crystal clear at those meetings back in July. Adelson only does deals where he gets a 15% return on his investment. Sheldon Adelson even went so far as to quietly push the other private partners out of the deal.
Then he asks for a piece of the team, and when he was denied that wanted all the profits from the Stadium Event Company. The Stadium Event Company is expected to gross anywhere from 125 million annually, to 225 million annually or more. Also the Stadium Events Company would be the final arbiter in any negotiation with the Raiders or NFL. That is something the NFL will not allowed to be owned by a casino owner.
Just remember we are hearing one side of this.
We were told that UNLV was unhappy about this. However at the latest Stadium Authority meeting UNLV President Len Jessup stood by the Raiders and maintained his excitement for working together. Not only that, but Inside the Rebels writer and editor Joe Arrigo maintains that UNLV was not upset at all. Per Joe Arrigo UNLV felt that this was “The Beginning of a Negotiation”.
Ultimately, it is impossible for me to lay blame without knowing exactly what the specific hang ups were in the negotiations. However I can say that what is coming out of the Adelson camp is only one side of this, and much of it has been refuted. Sheldon Adelson is a hard nosed negotiator who is used to getting his way. This time he did not get his way.
On the other side of this, the NFL continues to show solidarity with Mark Davis. Both the Raiders and NFL will not be bullied, and when presented with an easier path, it seems they have chosen to take it.
