How much more do Raiders fans have to take? Or, how much more should they take? Either way, the news Thursday that the Raiders are playing in one of three games in London next season provided more evidence that the league and the Raiders long ago put Oakland in the rear-view mirror. For the third
I have only ever been to one home game for the Raiders. That was for my honeymoon. I was more than happy to spend my money at my first game in Oakland.
No way I could ever afford to go to a “home” game in London.
I am so SICK AND TIRED of this whining about the Raiders leaving for Las Vegas!!! I have been a fan for nearly 40 years and witnessed them relocate multiple times, I’ve suffered just like every other real Raider fan through atrocious seasons, I’ve spent thousands of dollars on season tickets and yet I’m thrilled that the Raiders are finally getting into a state of the art stadium instead of playing on the dirt in a stadium that needs to be condemned. Everyone wants to blame Mark and Al for not getting a deal done in Oakland but the simple truth is Oakland can’t even support its municipal infrastructure let alone multiple professional sports teams; bottom line is football doesn’t bring in enough money for the city to really give a crap if they leave so there was minimal effort put forward to keep them no matter what the hell the pompous Honorable Libby Schaaf has stated. I look forward to my Raiders having a home that is not the joke of the entire sports world and I will still be attending games once they move just as I do now!!! My suggestion for all of you crying about the move is to enjoy them while they’re here and if need be you can move onto another team in 2020!!!
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.
Great comment! If you’re not already a writer, you may want to take it up.
Hello, Randy,
Thanks for taking the time to post such a detailed, passionate and thoughtful reply. I apologize for not responding at length, as I am in the midst of working feverishly to get this new site up to speed. However, I wanted to make a few things abundantly clear. One, I don’t have any issue with Mark Davis moving his team, be it to Las Vegas, Los Angeles or Walla Walla. My issue is, it’s folly to expect a city that can’t afford to pay for adequate policing, proper supplies in schools and to fill thousands of potholes to pony up hundreds of millions for a privately owned pro football team that currently is worth $2.3 billion. Also, the city still is paying an average of $20 million on the deal that the city agreed to in 1995. The other salient point is, don’t rub it in the faces of the people in Oakland the way Mark Davis has done and continues to do. By this, I mean the postings about Las Vegas on the team website, the appearances there at inappropriate times, etc. Thanks again for chiming in. That’s part of what is going to make this site so enjoyable. Everyone has a means to be heard and to engage in meaningful discourse.
Steve
Thanks for your thoughts, everyone.
I will feel sad for the local Oakland fans when we move to Las Vegas, but I don’t blame the team at all for leaving. We needed a new stadium, as our current situation is bad. Financially, we can’t compete with many of these other franchises that have state of the art stadiums. I don’t live in Oakland, so I rarely get to go to a live home game, but in this day and age with Sunday Ticket, internet, etc , it’s easier than ever before to watch the games no matter where in the country we may live. I don’t worry about us losing our fanbase. If most of the fans are as hardcore as I am, they’ll support the Raiders no matter where we play. Our fans are not fair weather fans, we are Raider Nation. Silver and Black for life.
This was a good article and I respect the efforts of anyone who will report the truth. One thing I do differ with some who have responded to this piece is that in the end Oakland did present an offer that the Raiders could have made considerable profits. It may it have been too late and a good part of the blame could be the politicians handling of the negotiations, but in my opinion, the deciding factor was control over the Coliseum land that the NFL so desperately wanted control over to develop. Yes, the $750 million was a lot to walk away from too, but advertising and TV revenues may not equal out.
Also, Las Vegas is not going to be the same kind of experience that the Raider Nation is used to or deserves. Tailgating will not be the same, and it will be interesting to see how the crowd energy will be; IMO it won’t match what we have here in Oakland. I traveled to Mexico City the past 2 years with the team and the differences in the crowd and the excitement was like night and day from the outset this year. I’ve also been to San Diego and Carson (this year) and this year there were not anywhere near the same enthusiasm. Gruden will have an impact here, but if the Raiders don’t win a Super Bowl in the next year or two, I’m not sure the fans will be traveling to LV to watch them as everyone wants to think. Not when we can watch on TV and have a better tailgating experience in our own backyards and watch parties at local restaurants and bars.
Malcolm