We learned yesterday that the Raiders were still optimistic about a potential move to Las Vegas, a move that recently encountered several major hurdles when casino magnate Sheldon Adelson withdrew his $650MM pledge for a potential $1.9B, 65,000-seat stadium in Sin City, and investment firm Goldman Sachs declared that it would not help the Raiders finance a stadium without Adelson’s involvement.
But while the Raiders still believe they can make a relocation work, it appears that the bridge with Adelson has been burned for good. Last night, Richard N. Velotta of the Las Vegas Review-Journal passed along a series of comments from Andy Abboud, vice president of government relations and community affairs for casino operator Las Vegas Sands Corp. and a spokesman for the Adelson family. Abboud’s statements are the first from either party regarding stadium development negotiations.
The entire piece is worth a read, but Abboud said Raiders executives changed their minds about certain issues in mid-negotiation, which precipitated Adelson’s decision. Per Abboud, the last straw was the Raiders’ decision to take a proposed stadium lease agreement to the Las Vegas Stadium Authority without telling or involving the Adelsons. Adelson withdrew his support four days after the agreement was presented to the Stadium Authority.
Abboud said of the lease, “The concern that we had and the concern that everybody has in hindsight is the 117-page proposed lease agreement that did not reflect the commitments that the Adelson family made to the Raiders and that the Raiders had made to the Adelson family. It did not reflect the commitments that were made to UNLV. It did not make the commitments that were promised to the community, and it was in no way reflective of the months of [Southern Nevada Tourism Infrastructure Committee] meetings and reflective of what it took to get the members of the Legislature to vote for the funding.”
Abboud added that the two sides negotiated over such issues as stadium naming rights, sponsorships, revenue from stadium contractors, parking, signage, and use by UNLV, but whenever Adelson’s team believed they had struck an accord, the Raiders would change their minds again.
Abboud said the team was demanding more and more as the negotiations wore on, and that Adelson “was willing to share revenues and make it financially mutually beneficial, but [the Raiders] were picking his pocket. I think that they felt they were asking to be entitled to revenue streams and things that simply made the deal unworkable. It was never about the financial return for the Adelsons, but the Adelson family wasn’t going to have their pocket picked, by the Raiders or by the NFL or anybody.”
Needless to say, this report presents just one side of the story, as Raiders President Marc Badain told Velotta several days ago that the team would not comment on the negotiations. Further, the Las Vegas Review-Journal is owned by Adelson’s family, so all of this should be taken with a grain of salt. Nonetheless, it does provide an interesting glimpse into the negotiations that once seemed destined to bring the NFL to Las Vegas but that now appear to be completely dead.
Mark Davis is a moron
He didn’t ny want to move to LVjust use them to get a better deal
He dosnt see that all he is done is made he naked look like a moron
Someone you can’t trust
Great job
Better deal? Where is this better deal you speak of? Davis appears to be a pretty savvy negotiator and has acquired the largest public grant of money EVER from any entity. This moron you speak of may be you? Why would you believe ANYTHING published by Adelson? My guess is he’ll find financing elsewhere and the terms of financial will be far more profitable.
I’m inclined to believe certain parts from both parties. I think Adelson probably tried forcing a deal that really benefitted him but would’ve been a detriment to the Raiders in the long run. However, I also do believe that the Raiders tried to pull a quick one by submitting a proposal that wasn’t necessarily approved by Adelson either.
Adelson doesn’t own the Raiders! And honestly I think he was trying to push a position on the Raiders that was not possible and if they defaulted he wound be in position to own the Raiders. Truly they should stay away from any casino owner, after all they all got rich from being in other people’s pockets. And besides the Raiders belong in Oakland! PERIOD.
Other than Browns
My post didn’t save. Other than Browns and 49ers, the Raiders are the worst. Stay in OAKTOWN
Don’t classify the 49ers with the browns. 2 years of being bad because your entire team retired is hardly the same as decades of irrelevence. The 49ers are the second most successful team on the league. The raiders on the other hand are garbage.
lol
In league history? Maybe (depends on who you ask…I personally don’t hold an opinion on that). If you mean right now…I think most of the world would disagree. They had a couple of good years and got screwed by a lot of players retiring in a short span…but 3 coaches in 3 years and a top 3 pick hardly constitutes “the second most successful team in the league”. If those are the standards you are going with…then the Browns are the most successful team in the league then right?
You’re misinterpreting the line “in history”. If you look at championships/super bowl wins, and just wins/losses since the league inception, then yes the 49ers are a top 3 franchise. Having a few bad years doesn’t erase decades of dominance. The team took a dive when Eddie debartalo was forced to give the team to his sister (Denise york). I stand by my comment 100%. You kids act like the league just formed a few years ago.
Also, saying the 49ers had a good run in the 80s would be like saying the patriots were OK in the 2000s. The 49ers dominated in the 80s and 90s, and have been competitive more or less since then. Facts hurt.
Don’t be so butthurt because your team sucks. Happens to all of us. Unless you are Pats, Packers, or Steeler fans. Those teams seem to have “down years” that are 8-8 or 9-7. Everyone else has bad years. The 49ers had great runs in 80s
Mark Davis should never have presented that proposal without his financial partner. And offering to pay $1 for rent when you are currently paying $3.5 million for a septic tank in Oakland is beyond believe. He blew his best chance at getting a new stadium.
If you believe any comments from the owner of the newspaper’s spokesperson, you are a moron. Of course they would say that everything was the Raiders fault. Why wouldn’t they when they control what gets printed in their very own newspaper?
Ding ding ding, we have a winner. This is how ALL newspapers work. Cnn is the voice of Ted Turner, the Washington post the voice of Jeff bezos, etc, etc…
PROBATION NATION !!!
I wish the Raiders would move to San Diego, go and win the Super Bowl, making the Spanos family look like morons..I’m not a Raiders fan, and probably could never be except for 2017…..
Location Mesa Az
Mark Davis & Marc Badain are a total joke & if you think otherwise then you need to wake up & open your eyes & clean out your ears.
For one Mark has never tried or wanted to stay in Oakland. He somehow thinks a stadium should be gifted to him like he is some sort of god.
Marc Badain is a joke as a president & he did go behind the Adelson’s back with that underhanded $1.00 lease proposal.
The funniest part of it all is that both Mark & Marc said that Goldman Sachs was still backing them after Goldman Sachs declared they would not & trust me will never now work with the Raiders.
Now if any of you blind sheep think that Mark & Marc can get a deal done in Los Vegas you do not understand who Sheldon Adelson is & you need to go back to school. Sheldon Adelson is who singlehandedly runs the Southern Nevada Tourism Infrastructure Committee. He got everything okayed because guess what he runs at least 85% of Vegas & now that the Raiders brass has pissed him off nothing will ever get done there but Mark & Marc still think it is a possibility which shows how much of a joke they are.
Lastly I would like to end this stupidity about the 49ers that you all have. Here is the truth in simple easy to read words.
The 49ers are now worth about 5 billion up from about 2.6 billion in 2014. So say what you will about them but that is more than the Raiders & Browns combined. Also even right now the 49ers have 2 players jerseys in the top 10 of all player jersey sales this year.
Now I wish all my fellow Oakland Raider fans would understand Mark & Marc are the biggest jokes in all of the NFL. They don’t want to be here & if you continue to believe otherwise you are in for a mental beat down.