It's 'Viva Las Vegas' For Raiders; Heartbreak For Oakland Fans
OAKLAND (CBS SF) — The NFL team owners have approved Oakland's move to Las Vegas Monday, the second time in team history that local Raiders fans have had their hearts broken by an announced the team was leaving.
The team needed at least 24 of 32 owners to approve the move to a $1.7 billion stadium in Las Vegas that will be ready for play in 2020.
It's official: The #Raiders are going to Vegas. They cleared the 24 vote threshold.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) March 27, 2017
They received 31 votes in favor with just Miami against the move, according to ESPN NFL Insider Adam Schefter.
Related: Complete Coverage Of Raiders Move
The vote also came after Oakland officials and Raiders fans mounted what they called a 'Hail Mary' effort to keep the team in the Bay Area.
"Never that we know of has the NFL voted to displace a team from its established market when there is a fully financed option before them with all the issues addressed," Mayor Libby Schaaf said in a statement. "I'd be remiss if I didn't do everything in my power to make the case for Oakland up until the very end."
Schaaf said the city has presented a $1.3 billion plan for a stadium at the Coliseum site that would be ready by 2021. She says the existing Coliseum would be demolished by 2024, with the Oakland Athletics baseball team either moving to a new stadium at the Coliseum site or somewhere else in the city.
But a letter to Schaaf last week, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell told the Oakland mayor the city's proposal had too many unknowns in it.
The Raiders abandoned their Oakland fans the first time in 1982 when they moved to Los Angeles, where they won a Super Bowl title.
They came "home" in 1995 to Oakland when officials put up $200 million to renovate the Coliseum and fund for a new practice facility.
The Raiders become the second pro franchise in Las Vegas, following the NHL's Golden Knights, who begin play in the fall in an already-built arena.
The team could spend the next two or even three seasons in the Bay Area before their stadium is ready.