Raiders Take a Chance on Las Vegas

Oakland Raiders logo (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

By 2020, the NFL Raiders will be trading in their hardscrabble existence in Oakland for the glitz and glamour of Las Vegas.  This isn't the first time they did that, having spent 12 seasons in the glitz and glamour of Los Angeles (1982-94) before moving back to the Bay Area in 1995.

Once the Raiders touch down in Vegas, they will have a new domed stadium waiting for them, paid for by local taxpayers and the Bank of America.  The only reason they're staying in Oakland for the next couple of years is that Raiders owner Mark Davis doesn't want his team to play outdoors in the desert heat at a small college stadium.

This is the third franchise shift for the NFL in the past year.  The Rams returned to LA after two decades in St. Louis, and the Chargers bolted out of San Diego to join them.  Which left the Raiders, who still have a significant fan base in southern California, looking east.

The NFL (and most professional sports) used to avoid Las Vegas because of its reputation as a gambling haven.  But now it seems hypocritical in an era where sports betting and fantasy football are big business.  The league's owners were almost unanimous in approving the Raiders' move.

Oakland now joins St. Louis and San Diego as cities abandoned by the NFL for bigger bucks elsewhere, and might never see them again.  The Coliseum, which had been the Raiders' off and on home base for over 50 years, is now a concrete dump that's badly in need of repair.  Even Major League Baseball's Athletics couldn't wait to get out of there.  And the NBA Golden State Warriors, who are currently playing at Oracle Arena next door, will be moving to San Francisco in a couple of years.

The Raiders began as an original member of the American Football League in 1960.  After struggling for a few years, the team began to dominate the league (and later the NFL after the merger) by living the "just win, baby" philosophy of managing general partner Al Davis.  They've played in five Super Bowls, winning twice in Oakland (1977 and 1980) and once in Los Angeles (1984).  They last appeared in 2003, losing to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

So many memorable players have donned the Silver and Black over the years.  Here's some of them:  Daryl Lamonica, Jim Otto, George Blanda, Ben Davidson, Jim Plunkett, Bo Jackson, coach John Madden, Ray Guy, Ken Stabler, Marcus Allen, Fred Biletnikoff and Howie Long.

In the 2016 season, the Raiders finished second in the AFC West division with a 12-4 record.  They lost to the Houston Texans in the wild card round of the NFL playoffs.

Playing in Oakland for the next two seasons (no word on what will happen in 2019) is going to be awkward for the Raiders and their fans, the most rabid in the NFL.  What if they win a Super Bowl, as Davis suggested they might?  Forget handing another Vince Lombardi Trophy to the New England Patriots.  Awarding one to a lame duck franchise could result in another embarrassing moment for commissioner Roger Goodell.

And Las Vegas?  There will be plenty of questions about the viability of an NFL franchise in a growing city with a transient population, and how the league will handle the gambling situation.  With every team getting the stadium deals they wanted and no more worlds to conquer (unless it's London), how long will it be before the NFL discovers all that glitters isn't really gold?