The Raiders in Las Vegas ... what could possibly go wrong?
Hard to fault Mark Davis for wanting to accept a handout of three-quarters of a billion dollars to build a palace worthy of the Raiders, but the process remains fraught with peril both in terms of relocation or staying at home.
Reactions from NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell and stadium czar Eric Grubman were less than enthusiastic about the Ronnie Lott group's proposal, but didn't close the door on Oakland/Alameda County.
You can take that to mean the locals have been offered a seat at the table, with the unstated goal of leveraging every last nickel from them under the threat of losing their team to Las Vegas.
It's a poker game that could take until March to sort out. In the interim, Davis and Sheldon Adelson must come to an agreement on the casino mogul's commitment and involvement. NFL owners have to determine how comfortable they are both with playing in Vegas and with Adelson's potential presence in the league's power structure.
There is almost no scenario which would find the Raiders anywhere else but the Coliseum for 2017 and probably 2018. Yet the process is far enough along it's worth considering what would await the Raiders in Las Vegas.
Las Vegas, fittingly, is a gamble, and a big one. Here are a few reasons:
