28 Mar 2017

NFL gives permission for Raiders to move to Sin City

8:15 am on 28 March 2017

National Football League team owners have given the green light to the Raiders moving to Las Vegas from Oakland.

It paves the way for the building of a new, 2.7 billion dollar stadium in Sin City.

Oakland Raiders quarterback Derek Carr.

Oakland Raiders quarterback Derek Carr. Photo: PHOTOSPORT

The plan by Raiders owner Mark Davis, who has been a driving force behind the relocation, won the support of 31 of the league's 32 owners, with only the Miami Dolphins ownership dissenting.

The Raiders will play the 2017, 2018 and possibly 2019 seasons in Oakland before relocating to Las Vegas in 2020, Davis said during a news conference after the vote.

He acknowledged some fans in Oakland will be disappointed, but said his goal in the meantime was to "bring a championship to Oakland."

The relocation plan appeared to be all but dead after casino mogul Sheldon Adelson and later Goldman Sachs changed their minds about helping to finance the stadium construction earlier this year.

Adelson had pledged up to 920 million dollars toward construction of the domed stadium but pulled his support in January after the team presented a lease proposal without his knowledge.

But the Raiders secured financing from Bank of America Corp .

An additional 1.1 billion dollars will come from public funds via a visitor's tax on hotel rooms.

It will be the third time in franchise history the Raiders will move. In 1982 the team relocated to Los Angeles before returning to Oakland in 1995.

The Raiders become the third team in the past two years to be granted approval to relocate. Previously, both the Rams and Chargers were allowed to relocate to Los Angeles from St. Louis and San Diego, respectively.

-Reuters