Lease Issue Could Delay Raiders’ Vegas Move

The Raiders received resounding approval to relocate to Las Vegas in March, but the timetable for that trip isn’t certain. And a lease agreement could delay the franchise’s plans.

With the next NFL owners’ meeting occurring later this month, Raiders president Marc Badain said, via Regina Garcia Cano of the Associated Press, if the Raiders can’t reach a lease agreement with Las Vegas, a “distinct possibility” exists the team’s move will be delayed a year. Mark Davis‘ fellow owners must approve the lease before the project can go forward, per Adam Candee of the Las Vegas Sun.

“In order to approve a lease, you need full membership, and the league has four meetings a year: one in March, one in May, one in October and one in December,” Badain said following a public meeting of the Las Vegas Stadium Authority board. “So, if you miss the May deadline, you push to October, we would lose a year, and everybody wants to get this project going everybody wants to get these guys to work. So we didn’t want to miss that deadline.”

The present plan for the Raiders includes a move into their proposed $1.9 billion domed venue in 2020, but if the team can’t agree on a lease by the May 22 owners’ meetings in Chicago, it faces a prospect of this venture being delayed until 2021. Board chairman Steve Hill expressed confidence the agreement can be finalized, per Cano, who adds a 30-year lease is being discussed. A Thursday board meeting is on the agenda, with the subject of completing this lease front and center, Candee reports.

“The NFL has directly asked us to attempt to have a lease approved by the owners meeting,” Hill said. “There has been no ‘get this done or else’ type of approach on this request.”

The Raiders have a lease option to play in Oakland through the 2018 season, although a possible contingency plan — in case this season goes poorly with the lame-duck team playing in front of a fanbase that again saw the franchise agree to leave — may exist that would allow the Raiders to depart the Bay Area early and play in a temporary venue in Vegas. But UNLV’s Sam Boyd Stadium is not viewed as an NFL-ready site presently, so the above delay could conceivably keep the team in Oakland through 2020.

However, the Raiders’ current city may bail before then. The Raiders want to play in Oakland until their Vegas palace is ready, but Candee reports Coliseum authority officials want to end the parties’ relationship after the 2018 season. That would obviously put the Raiders in a tough spot, with one or two in-between years clouding the process.