Oakland Raiders: With Vegas On Life Support, Could San Diego Be In Play?

The Oakland Raiders’ move to Las Vegas – once viewed as pretty probable – has taken a potentially fatal hit with the withdrawal of casino mogul, Sheldon Adelson.

Once upon a time, the idea of the Oakland Raiders relocating seemed to be little more than a fairy tale. But then, Raiders owner Mark Davis secured state funding, as well as the backing of casino mogul Sheldon Adelson, and things escalated rather quickly. Not all that long ago now, the Raiders relocating to Sin City seemed to be a foregone conclusion and an inevitability.

That idea of something being inevitable though, has taken a pretty rough hit of late – just ask a certain presidential candidate who once thought their inauguration was inevitable.

Amid rumors of secret meetings and backroom deals he was excluded from, an enraged Adelson pulled his backing of the Raiders’ move to Vegas and put Davis’ entire relocation bid in doubt.

It was thought that Goldman Sachs would step in to fill the void should Adelson withdraw from Davis’ quest for a stadium in Sin City, but word came today that – well – Davis might have to look for a plan C.

Goldman Sachs – an investment firm who has a long history of business dealings with Adelson – has made it clear that without Adelson, there would be no funding deal for the Raiders.

So, with Las Vegas looking increasingly (again) like nothing more than a mirage on the desert horizon, most are looking for Davis to turn his attention back to Oakland and working something out. Shortly after Adelson withdrew his backing, the Ronnie Lott-led group backed by Fortress Investment Group, issued a statement declaring their intent to continue pursuing avenues to keep the Raiders in Oakland.

"“We stand ready to work with the team and NFL to keep the Raiders here at home. We have the land available at the existing Coliseum site following the actions of the City of Oakland and Alameda County last December. We have a strong financing partner in Fortress Investment Group. We have an additional $100 million due to the NFL incentive to keep the Raiders in Oakland. And of course, we have the best fans in the world right here in the heart of Raider Nation. Add to all that a diverse and fast growing community, a top 10 television market, and more Fortune 500 companies than any region in the western United States. Bottom line, if the Raiders want to stay in Oakland, we are more than ready to be a partner in making that happen.”"

No doubt, the city of Oakland and the Lott group believe they have Davis over a barrel. And they quite possibly do.

But there is still the possibility that Davis finds another backer for his Vegas dream. The owners are not scheduled to meet until March to vote on his relocation bid, so he has a little bit of time – not a lot, but a bit.

However, Fred Roggin, on his daily sports talk show, floated out another interesting idea – one that he thinks is entirely plausible. He intimated that there was something of a conspiracy afoot to keep Davis looking at the shiny thing that was Vegas, while ensuring the league keeps the Raiders out of LA.

After all, had Dean Spanos elected to not move the Chargers to LA, Davis and the Raiders would have had the right to move there themselves – something Goodell, Stan Kroenke and the league most definitely did not want. So, with Spanos taking the LA bid, and that avenue closed off to Davis, according to Roggin’s train of thought, the league helped tank the Vegas bid.

However, that’s not even the most interesting part of what Roggin suggested. He claimed to have had conversations with somebody in the Raiders’ hierarchy and that they had a potential contingency plan in place, should the Vegas deal collapse.

And that potential contingency plan is – San Diego.

According to Roggin, his source claimed that Davis and the Raiders would not pursue a brand new stadium in San Diego, opting instead, to refurbish Qualcomm Stadium. On his show, Roggin says that his source claimed that the refurbishment of Qualcomm would cost roughly $900 million dollars – with $500 million that Davis has already pledged, $200 million from the NFL’s G4 loan program, and an additional $200 million from the city of San Diego – an amount that could be much more palatable to the city and its voters.

Obviously, this is all purely speculation and there is nothing set in stone. There are still a lot of moving parts to this deal. And this is assuming that A) Vegas is actually a dead deal, B) Davis and the city of Oakland and the Lott group don’t work something out, and C) San Diego is something that would even interest Davis.

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Clearly though, bringing the Raiders to San Diego is something that intrigues the city. Mayor Kevin Faulconer has already spoken with the NFL and a representative for the city has reportedly already been in contact with the Raiders.

With the Raiders looking more and more like they’ve crapped out in Vegas, Davis moving the team south is looking like an increasing possibility. The situation is fluid, but bears watching in the days and weeks to come.