Mark Davis, Oakland Raiders Owner Mislead Oakland In Las Vegas NFL Relocation This Way

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Oakland Raiders Owner Mark Davis has his work cut out for him in trying to make a go of it via building a new, enclosed and state-of-the-art (whatever that really is) stadium in Las Vegas. There are several reasons for this, but foremost among them is the mess he left in the city his Oakland Raiders play in and of the same name as the team.

On two primary occasions Davis deliberately mislead City of Oakland Officials by not telling him of his intentions to move, first to Carson, California and then to Las Vegas, Nevada. Here’s an example from the NFL 2015 Spring League Meeting, where Davis was confronted with the fact that he was working behind Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf’s back. Specifically, working in detail with Carson, while paying positive lip service to the idea of a stadium in Oakland:

And here, Davis meets Oakland Raiders fans and tells them he’s doing everything he can to stay in Oakland:

It’s reported on Scribd, but not widely distributed that on January 28th 2016, the Oakland Raiders planned to meet Las Vegas Sands Sheldon Adelson and University of Nevada Las Vegas President Len Jessup because the Raiders were seeking land for a new stadium:

UNLV Stadium Statement by Aubrey Clerkin on Scribd

Then, Davis signs the new Coliseum lease, but does not commit to Oakland, and does not want to talk about it. Davis did not mention his interest in Las Vegas:

Then, at the NFL 2016 Spring League Meeting, I asked NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell about what had become Davis’ obvious moves to Las Vegas, done behind Oakland’s back. Here, Goodell admits part of the reason for the Raiders not having a stadium deal in Oakland was their own fault:

Then, at the 2017 NFL Annual Meeting, Davis said his interest in Las Vegas came after he signed the lease, when there’s evidence that he was already talking to Las Vegas business and political officials:

Also, I can report here, now, that the news Davis claims he got about the stadium rent issue came in this way: initial meetings with the Oakland Coliseum JPA were such that Raiders President Marc Badain picked the lowest available rent level offered – the JPA rejected that, and so a kind of compromise higher rent level was agreed to, and mainly because what Badain picked would have caused the Coliseum to dip further into debt.

Stay tuned.

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