Cowboys owner Jerry Jones says he is fully behind the controversial plan to move the Oakland Raiders to Las Vegas.
Steve Wynn, the Vegas casino billionaire who’s backing the proposed relocation, told lawmakers in Nevada last week that Jones and Robert Kraft, the Patriots owner, had given the project their blessing. When asked about that on Tuesday, Jones didn’t disagree.
“I would say: amen,” Jones said at the NFL owners’ meeting in Houston. “Steve is a valued friend and Sheldon [Adelson] is as well. I admire Jim [Murren] and what they do with MGM and I just admire what Nevada, Las Vegas is about. It’s a compliment to the NFL that they’re considering supporting a team. And so, I think it’s a great opportunity for everybody concerned, and I’m looking forward to the future.”
On Monday, Nevada governor Brian Sandoval signed into law Senate Bill 1, which sets in motion the $1.9bn, 65,000-seat stadium project. Adelson, a leading Republican donor thought be worth around $25bn, has pledged $650m toward the project, though details of the business deal Adelson is proposing have yet to emerge. About $500m will come from the Raiders – mostly through seat licences and an NFL loan – and a public subsidy worth $750m will cover the rest.
Raiders owner Mark Davis will make an announcement after the meeting wraps on Wednesday, but declined to comment on Tuesday. “Until then, I don’t want to say anything to you guys because I’d rather tell them first,” Davis said.
Any relocation would have to be approved by 24 of the 32 NFL owners, and a decision might not come for between six to nine months.
Jones, who was instrumental in helping the Rams move from St Louis to Los Angeles this year, said: “I think it’s a great matchup, and I’m really impressed by the leadership, and I’m impressed by the fact that financially the people that will be supporting Mark Davis’s effort to bring those Raiders there are as excited as they are about it. That alone makes me want to be very active and very excited about the Raiders and the possibilities.”
