The National Football League approved the relocation of the Oakland Raiders to Las Vegas Monday morning. It wasn’t a very well kept secret that the team had plans of leaving and Vegas wanted to bring them in to what could soon be a major power in the sporting world. The Raiders will join the NHL’s expansion Golden Knights and potentially an NBA franchise as well in the coming years. For this we take a look a closer look at the move and what it means for the Black and Silver.
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NFL Approves Oakland Raiders relocation to Las Vegas
Step One: Securing Ticket Sales in Oakland this year
While the league approved the move, the team could still be in Oakland for potentially the next two seasons. This means the organization will need to come up with some brilliant marketing scheme to bring people in the doors to watch a team that’s about to abandon them. The writing was on the wall for fans in San Diego this past year and as a result, once-Chargers fans walked out on the team first. The stadium became filled with opposing teams fans and sellouts quickly became a thing of the past.
So far their big signing of wide receiver Cordarelle Patterson isn’t going to win back the fans hearts. However, the homecoming of Marshawn Lynch could definitely be the answer. Beast Mode is only 30 years old and easily has another two seasons in him. The city loves him and he’d wear his heart on his sleeves game in and game out for his hometown. While the team is on the rise, given their relocation plans, a Lynch signing is pretty much their only hope right now at selling more tickets.
Step Two: Await their palace to be built
The Las Vegas Raiders may upset some fans but they’ll definitely delight the masses with their shiny new stadium. It is amazing and kind of karmaful (if that’s a word), that the now Los Angeles Chargers and the NFL missed out on this opportunity. If all was right in the world, the Raiders would return to their gigantic fan base in LA, while the Chargers would move to Vegas. Think about it, despite selling out their tiny soccer stadium in Carson, the Chargers are not wanted in LA. Despite spending one season there in 1960, the team has no connection with the town. You could put the Browns in Vegas though and they’d sell out. It’s an easy band aid for any situation.
With that said, the Raiders are going to have the shiniest and arguably best looking stadium in the league. The only problem is that the final touches should be in place by 2020, meaning they could play quite a few more years in Oakland than they’d originally hoped. This could be a great thing for Oakland fans because their team’s prime time will be the next two to three years, it looks like. It could also be a horrible thing for the league though, if the fans in the bay area town decide to walk. They really can’t built that stadium fast enough.
The other option is to workout a deal with the University of Nevada Las Vegas to use Sam Boyd Stadium. Although that dump may actually be in worse shape than their current Oakland Coliseum, which is also known as, the reason the team is leaving for Las Vegas.
Step Three: Build for the Future. Build for Vegas.
While the team’s peak seasons seem to be in the near future, they’ll need to keep adding to the pile through careful drafting. With the 24th pick in this year’s draft, the Raiders will have a shot at a star wide out or potential feature back. They are some good options on defense as well, but the team’s biggest gaps are on the other side of the ball (at the moment). This would be an ideal time to draft and groom a kid for the next year or two, so he can have some major market value when the team packs up and departs for sandier pastures.
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