Raiders fans dealt yet another blow by Mark Davis, NFL

I am unaccustomed to leaving comments, but this article seemed deserving.

In my opinion, Mark Davis would have loved to have stayed in Oakland. It was simply a painful financial reality that he had to go to Vegas. Conversely, Oakland couldn’t afford to build or help build a stadium, though the fans wanted the Raiders. You can’t fault them for that. They couldn’t afford it. Davis couldn’t, financially, continue in Oakland, though he clearly loves Oakland. The team HAD to have a new stadium; that’s not an option. Davis (be it Al or Mark) has never had the kind of money their owner-peers have. Kudos to them to even be IN the game. They managed, and continue to manage, a miracle to own a franchise with their meager financial resources. As we see as each and every stadium is built, even the billionaire owners don’t build their own stadiums.

So, what – really – was Mark Davis supposed to do about staying in Oakland. And: what – really – was the Oakland city officials supposed to do about keeping the Raiders in Oakland? Face it: for all practical purposes, neither could do it.

Moving to Vegas instantly made the Raiders worth a lot more money. But, from what level? From terrible to OK? And, how much CASH did it put in Mark Davis’ pocket? It made them viable, instead of not viable. It took them from barely getting by, to an opportunity to do things like (for better or for worse), hire Jon Gruden. In allowed him to attract better players so they didn’t have to play in a dump. It also, and not insignificantly, allows them to pay 10% less, and get the same money in the player’s pocket because of the suffocating California income taxes. Is that Davis’ fault too? Think about it: in Vegas, they get what amounts to a permanent 10% increase in salary cap because the players don’t have to take it in the shorts with the California income taxes. That is a BIG deal. It’s not Oakland’s fault that The Republic of California has to have that whopping income tax. And, it’s not Davis’ fault that Nevada does not.

If anyone else owned the Oakland Raiders and faced the same choices, a very large percentage, and perhaps 99.9% would have done the same thing: not to be rich, but to be solvent and relevant.

So, I think it would be good for everyone, if the honest reality became some sort of foundation from which to build constructive criticism, and optimism and support. And, the honest reality is that almost NOBODY could have, or would have, kept the Raiders in Oakland. And, the increase in value of the Raiders did not dump a bunch of cash in Raider bank accounts. The increase in value is only a theoretical thing that might happen some day. Or, it can be borrowed against if the owner wants to give to his fans the maximum amount of money he can scare up by borrowing against the increase in value of his club. Which he did.

Oh yes, the original topic of the London game. That sucks. But, don’t make it more than it is, and don’t heap that on top of a house of cards criticism about keeping the Raiders in Oakland. There are a lot of billionaire owners in the league. None would have kept the team in Oakland. It’s very sad that Oakland doesn’t have the money for the stadium. It’s very sad that it’s a fact of business life that one owner can’t afford to pay for his own stadium when his competitor owner gets one for free. If you want to hang the blame somewhere, hang it on all the municipalities all over the country who are willing to build these stadiums. It makes it impossible for less fortunate communities or owners to stay, or be, where they would want to.

It’s not about Mark Davis’ being a money grubber. He only grubbed enough to make the team relevant and solvent. I don’t get the feeling that the man cares as much about personal riches as much as he does about Raider Greatness. Otherwise, why mortgage his future by taking out humongous loans to try to make the team’s facilities better than the dump that is their current home? Why give Jon Gruden what amounts to – indirectly – a big chunk of the team. That big contract is only possible because of the increase in value of the team. Whether you like the deal or not, you have to love Davis for immediately putting his new-found “on-paper” wealth towards the good of the team and the team’s fans.

Notions that “something” could have been done to keep the Raiders in Oakland, are just not so. Oakland is leaving because of the very sad reality that neither side had the money to stay there.

Keep up the usually-great reporting. But, nail down the basic business realities when you criticize unavoidable and very difficult business decisions. Don’t throw emotional feelings into a emotionless financial situation. Dollars don’t have emotions. And, like it or not … facilities cost money, rosters cost money … money, money, money. But, that it takes a lot of money doesn’t make Mark Davis a villain. There is dramatic and emotional and really cool sports out there where money means little. Little League baseball for example. Or, maybe Pop Warner football. But, the NFL? It takes insane amounts of money to make that world go around.