Sheldon Adelson Proposes Las Vegas Move To The Oakland Raiders

A new group of investors made up of primarily prominent African-American business leaders and NFL players have approached the Oakland Raiders team and Oakland city with a proposal to build a new stadium in Las Vegas which would keep the NFL team from moving to Los Angeles. The group is led by led by former Oakland Raiders players Rodney Peete and Ronnie Lott.

Raiders owner Mark Davishas expressed his desire to shift the team’s base to Las Vegas if a stadium is built, since it would be a neutral location acceptable to fans in both Northern California and Los Angeles. Davis believes that the move will unite the Raider’s fan base.

The shift to Las Vegas will however mean an eight-hour drive for fans in Oakland and four hours for fans in Los Angeles.

KTNV Channel 13 Las Vegas

According to local media reports, Lott and Peete met with Oakland Mayor Libby Schaff earlier this week to express their interest in building the stadium. The mayor informed them that she along with the City Council would negotiate with the team on the proposal. A spokesperson for the team has confirmed that the city is continuing its discussions with the team and that the city would review only those proposals already vetted by the team.

The proposal to build a stadium in Las Vegas is backed by casino operator Las Vegas Sands Corp. and Majestic Realty using both public funds and private investment. The proposed $1.4 billion domed stadium with a seating capacity of 65,000 seats will be located east of the Strip. Team owner Davis has committed to putting in $500 million of his funds for the stadium’s construction.

The Southern Nevada Tourism Infrastructure Committee is meeting later this week for more discussions on the proposal. According the plan proposed by the Lott and Peete, they would be the developers of a 120-acre site in Oakland for the stadium. Other investors include Egbert Perry, CEO of Integral an Atlanta-based real estate and investment firm, and also Fannie Mae’s chairman of the board, sports agent Bill Duffy, Festus Ezeli and Seth Hamalian.

No details are currently available on the financing for their proposal although it is currently backed by hedge fund. The group said it also interested in gaining minority ownership of the Raiders. Further discussions are likely to take place with other stakeholders including the Alameda County Board of Supervisors who need to sign off on any decision.

Adrian Sterne

More articles by Adrian Sterne