Raiders show they’re serious about possible relocation to Las Vegas

The Oakland Raiders’ flirtation with Las Vegas has taken on a tone that should be familiar with anyone who followed the NFL’s two-decade relocation dance with Los Angeles.

The Raiders filed a trademark application with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office for the name “Las Vegas Raiders,” according to a Forbes report. Meanwhile, the Southern Nevada Tourism Infrastructure Committee on Thursday released a report that features renderings of a proposed Raiders stadium in Las Vegas.

While interesting, neither of these developments is a smoking-gun indication that a relocation is in the offing, but both are reminders that the Raiders are serious about kicking the tires on the idea of such a move.

Similarly the San Diego Chargers applied to trademark “Los Angeles Chargers” in January, in the immediate aftermath of NFL owners’ giving the Rams the green light to move from St. Louis. At the time, the clock had just started on the Chargers’ one-year option to join the Rams in L.A., an option that rolls over to the Raiders for a year if the Chargers choose not to exercise it by January.

As for the stadium renderings – and we’ve seen dozens like them over the years from people pitching venues in the L.A. market – those are intriguing but again inconclusive. The latest Raiders iteration, by the way, looks similar to the vision they had for a Carson stadium, but with a roof and a desert backdrop.

That’s not to say the Raiders aren’t serious about exploring a move, especially with the way they’ve seen so little movement on a stadium in Oakland. In May, Raiders owner Mark Davis said: “I’ve given my commitment to Las Vegas, and if they can come through with what they’re talking about doing, then we’ll go to Las Vegas.”

Backers of a Las Vegas stadium for the team have narrowed their options to two proposed sites and say they are unwilling to accept any less than $750 million in public funding for the $1.9-billion project, according to Associated Press.

Those proponents include Majestic Realty and the Las Vegas Sands casino. L.A. developer Ed Roski, who in recent years had proposed an NFL stadium in City of Industry, is president and chief executive of Majestic Realty.

The public money would come partly from hotel tax revenue. The stadium backers want Nevada lawmakers to approve a deal in a special session next month, allowing the group to present the plan to NFL owners in January for approval.

That would seem to put this on the fast track. However, if we’ve learned anything from the L.A. soap opera, it’s that hurdles can rise up out of nowhere, and what feels like first-and-goal typically isn’t.

Notably, earlier this month, Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones, who was instrumental in helping the Rams get back to L.A., told The Times that it was unlikely for there to be the same type of battle between owners over Las Vegas as there was over Los Angeles.

“You’ll have certain individual owners with thoughts, but you won’t see people clumping together to try to stop it – not with Las Vegas in the Raiders’ case,” Jones said. “You’re not going to have factions and things like that. Not here.”

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