Before the Raiders can move from Oakland to Las Vegas, a location for a stadium in Nevada must be selected. Via Paul Gutierrez of ESPN.com, the universe of potential sites currently sits at nine.
Gutierrez explains that, a special meeting on Monday, the Southern Nevada Tourism Infrastructure Committee discussed the possible locations for a stadium. But here’s what the headline arguably should have been: The estimated cost of a stadium in Las Vegas has skyrocketed from $1.4 billion to up to $2.1 billion.
The increase comes from the potential costs of acquiring land, along with a proposal to give the stadium a retractable roof.
The Commission, which originally was scheduled to end its work later this month, will be asking for a two-month extension before making a recommendation to Governor Brian Sandoval.
The flirtation phase of the Raiders-to-Vegas movement had the public contribution at $750 million. Sandoval and other politicians want to knock that number down by $200 million. There’s a chance that, in the end, the numbers simply won’t add up.
Which means that Las Vegas may not be an option for the Raiders. Which means that, unless something works out in Oakland, the Raiders may need another long-term solution.
Los Angeles becomes an obvious fallback, if the Chargers don’t exercise their right to join the Rams at Kroenkeworld before January 2017. Still, it’s hard to imagine the Rams truly embracing a return by the Raiders to L.A., given the belief that the Raiders could instantly eclipse the Rams as the No. 1 team in the market.