AFCLas Vegas Raiders

How Did the Raiders Move to Las Vegas?

How Did the Raiders Move to Las Vegas?
How Did the Raiders Move to Las Vegas?

While it may be somewhat unheard of for a sports club to move into a new city in the rest of the world, American sports franchises move from city to city from time to time and it is a practice that may not be loved by the fans, but is accepted by most.

The reasons to move to a new city can be various, but it usually comes down to financial situation and technical problems, which was also the case with the Oakland Raiders moving to Las Vegas and becoming the Las Vegas Raiders in 2020.

Las Vegas, being the home of entertainment and competition of all sorts, as displayed at https://www.lasvegas-how-to.com/, was only too happy to jump on this move and let the Raiders make a home in their backyard.

It is worth noting that the franchise’s history was already plagued by an earlier move to Los Angeles in 1982. The team came back to play in Oakland in 1995, but once again problems ensued and led to the birth of the Las Vegas Raiders.

If you are unfamiliar with how Raiders moved to Sin City, keep reading and find out exactly how it all went down.

What Made the Raiders Move?

Moving an NFL franchise to a new city is not something you want to do on a whim, as it tends to cause a lot of frustration to home fans, which it certainly did in Oakland in 2019. Players were booed off the field after their last game at the RingCentral Coliseum and the fans were clearly not pleased.

And yet, the reason for Raiders to move came down to the local government, who refused to open up any public funds for the construction of a new stadium for the Raiders to play in.

The RingCentral Coliseum was no longer fit for NFL games according to the league management, and the franchise was asked to fix the situation.

When Las Vegas opened the door for a move and promised $750 million in public funds for the construction of a brand new arena, there was little more Raiders could do but accept.

While the likes of Stephen Ross (the Dolphins owner) protested the move and claimed the teams should do everything in their power to remain faithful to their fans, the move was approved by the league and happened in the 2020 season.

Today, the Las Vegas Raiders enjoy a new fan base in Las Vegas, but their results remain pretty much unchanged, as they are yet to make the playoffs in their new home.

A Look at the Olden Days

While Raiders may not be very competitive in recent years, there was a time they were one of the best teams in the country and regularly won the AFC.

In fact, the team won Super Bowls as both Oakland and Las Vegas Raiders in 1976, 1980, and 1983, but those days are now long gone.

It has now been 20 years since the franchise competed in the Super Bowl back in 2002, and it remains to be seen if the new venue will be any luckier for the Raiders than the old one in the seasons to come.

As Raiders continue to rebuild and get strong support from the home fans in Vegas, it will be interesting to see what moves they make and how Las Vegas Raiders will look in the years to come.

Damond Talbot

NFL Draft Diamonds was created to assist the underdogs playing the sport. We call them diamonds in the rough. My name is Damond Talbot, I have worked extremely hard to help hundreds of small school players over the past several years, and will continue my mission. We have several contributors on this site, and if they contribute their name and contact will be in the piece above. You can email me at nfldraftdiamonds@gmail.com

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