With the finish line in sight, Mark Davis continues to stay quiet about the Oakland Raiders moving to Las Vegas. The last thing he said on record was “The Raiders are committed to Las Vegas, and that’s what I’m working on.”
For Mark Davis and the Raiders, All Roads Lead to Las Vegas
The journey has built a positive reputation among his peers. Robert Kraft, Jerry Jones, and Jim Irsay, just to name a few, have made glowing remarks about Mark and the Las Vegas opportunity. Roger Goodell has even weighed in with positive remarks about Sin City.
Now we have many reporters, Jason Cole, Joe Arrigo, and Vincent “Vinny” Bonsignore coming out saying the NFL is 100% behind Mark Davis and his relocation efforts to Las Vegas.
Mark Davis has made his place as an owner in the NFL.
However, that was not always the case.
When Mark Davis took over the franchise in 2011, it was during the darkest hour in Raiders history.
Mark was left with a franchise that was upside down in the salary cap, devoid of young talent, and playing in a decrepit stadium that could not sell out tickets.
A few of the other NFL owners suggested to Mark that he would be better off selling the team, but Mark was not having any of that. He was a Davis, the son of Al Davis, and he was not going give up his father’s mission: to build the finest professional sports team in history. It would take success both off and on the football field. That story has been told. From the arrival of Reggie McKenzie, the 2014 draft, and Jack Del Rio. The thing that had eluded both Mark and his father Al, was a new, football only, stadium.
Fast forward to the summer of 2015. Mark Davis and Dean Spanos created a partnership to build a new stadium in Carson, CA. Mark was still on the outside looking in, when it came to NFL owners. His football team had not won more than four games in a season under his stewardship. He was also at the bottom of NFL revenue, just barely above the revenue earned by the then St Louis Rams. The big difference was that Stan Kroenke had billions behind him, and a fantastic stadium plan for Inglewood.
Some NFL owners questioned Mark’s business acumen. Others held on to old grudges that began when Al Davis sued the league. Not only that, but Mark was a pauper compared to most of the other NFL owners. Sure he had money, Al made sure of that, but he did not have NFL owner money. So when it came to the Los Angeles deal, he was always running as the third horse.
Mark Davis flips the script on his Image during the Los Angeles relocation process.
It was during the Los Angeles relocation process that Mark Davis began earning credibility with the league, and respect among the owners. His partnership with Dean Spanos gave him leverage against Stan Kroenke, leverage the NFL used to get Kroenke to allow another team to play at Inglewood at a future date. Mark also hired Carmen Policy and Bob Iger when the other owners challenged his business sense. That was bold. None of the owners could ever question those two men’s credentials.
Also, Davis was working behind the scenes with Sheldon Adelson, Majestic Realty, and the State of Nevada. Davis was no fool. He knew that once Stan Kroenke caved to the NFL demands that Kroenke’s project would win. So in November of 2015, right after Kroenke caved to the NFL, Davis got serious with Las Vegas.
When the January vote came to be last year, the Raiders owner was ready. First, he got $100 million extra to try again in Oakland. Second, he got a green light for Las Vegas, and a reduced relocation fee, should the talks fail in Oakland. The NFL was not sure that Davis could do this, but he played ball in LA, unlike his father would have, so they agreed. One last thing was that Davis was given a contractual option to move to Los Angeles, this month, should the Chargers decide to stay in San Diego. This did not seem like much at the time, but now it’s everything.
The NFL stadium sub committee is holding a special meeting next week.
The reason that contractual option in LA has become the linchpin to Davis moving the team to Las Vegas has everything to do with the stadium situation in San Diego. Last week, the City of San Diego put together a new proposal that only leaves a $100 million dollar funding gap. The Spanos family has long maintained that they would rather stay in San Diego. Because of this new development, they needs an extension on their LA option.
And Mark Davis holds the rights to that option.
Next week you will hear the NFL announce that the San Diego Chargers are going to try and work out a new stadium deal in San Diego, and also extend their LA option, just as a back up. The NFL will also announce that the Raiders will be shown on TV in the Los Angeles media market as the number two team. Additionally, you will hear the NFL get behind the relocation to Las Vegas publicly.
Mark has played his cards extremely well. He has positioned himself during this relocation process better than anyone could have predicted just 18 months ago. Also, he has the state of Nevada offering the largest public subsidy for an NFL stadium in history.
He also has a deal, in principal, with Sheldon Adelson. Adelson will be financing the private side of the stadium in Las Vegas. This has been known publicly since Andy Abboud, Adelson’s spokesperson, said it in early December. The NFL Owners agree with this proposal.
This and more is why Mark Davis has now earned his rightful place of respect among his peers.
It is also why the Raiders will be moving to Las Vegas with a vote on that coming in March.
Writers Note
I would like to take this moment to do a shout out to Joe Arrigo of Scout.com. Joe broke the original Raiders to Vegas story, and he has been fantastic to share notes with, discuss, and dissect this information. He has been instrumental as a sounding board to bounce information that sources give me off of. He has also become a good friend.
Happy New Year to you Joe and to Raider Nation!
