Twenty-two years after the Raiders left Los Angeles and returned to Oakland, Calif., on Jan. 19, the team filed paperwork to hit the road again. This time the team's sights are set on Las Vegas, but the stadium deal that would bring the Raiders to the desert hit a significant snag last week as Las Vegas Sands CEO Sheldon Adelson pulled out as chief financial backer of the $1.9 billion project.
Adelson had been a key player in the negotiations to bring the NFL team to Las Vegas, sending lobbyists to promote public funding of the stadium to the tune of $750 million and committing to a $650 million contribution from himself and his family. The remaining $500 million was to come from the Raiders.
However, on Jan. 26 Raiders owner Mark Davis' team delivered a draft of the stadium use agreement to the nine-member Las Vegas Stadium Authority. Among the team's demands were annual rent of $1, scheduling control over UNLV college football games and the authority to kick out suite licensees for events such as the Super Bowl or NCAA Final Four men's basketball games.
Adelson was reportedly not aware of the meeting between the team and the Stadium Authority, nor of the contents of the use-agreement document.
"The Oakland Raiders came before the Las Vegas Stadium Authority last week with a proposed lease agreement that has sent shockwaves through our community," the Adelson family said in a statement. "It was certainly shocking to the Adelson family. We were not only excluded from the proposed agreement; we weren't even aware of its existence."
The statement went on to say that the Adelson family would no longer be a part of the project or the team's relocation efforts.
So who will pick up the $650 million tab? Goldman Sachs had been part of the deal that included Adelson, but with the casino mogul out of the picture, the investment bank is also stepping aside, according to the Los Angeles Times.
Which leaves the future of the possible Las Vegas Raiders and their shiny new home just off the Strip in limbo. Davis has until March, when the NFL owners will vote on the team's relocation bid, to figure it out.