It appears as if the Denver Broncos’ biggest rival is about to move a little bit closer. About 500 miles closer, actually. On Monday, the NFL owners will convene in Arizona, where they are expected to vote on the Oakland Raiders relocation bid, as they are looking to move from the Bay Area to Las Vegas. According to Joe Arrigo of ESPN Las Vegas, they have the votes.
“It looks very much so like the Raiders will be moving here,” Arrigo told Ryan Edwards and Benjamin Allbright on Mile High Sports Radio. “They have, according to my sources, 28 votes to relocate, I’ve been told as well, it could get as high as 30 votes for them to relocate to Las Vegas.”
The notion of the Raiders having the numbers to relocate was supported by Allbright, who is an NFL Insider, By his count, they have 27 “firm affirmative” votes, which is still more than the 24 they need.
“So it looks more and more like the Raiders are going to relocate to Las Vegas,” continued Arrigo, “and that announcement will come on Monday, with the Raiders renting out [the] Thomas & Mack [Center] Wednesday and Thursday of next week to have a ‘welcome to Las Vegas’ rally on Thursday.”
There is more corroborating evidence of the move as well. According to Arrigo, the Raiders will have a lease agreement in place by the end of April. They also have an option to buy the land on which a new stadium will sit, which runs through the end of the month. The Raiders have also scouted UNLV’s Sam Boyd Stadium, where they would likely play until their new stadium is ready, on multiple occasions.
While it is believed that the Raiders would stay in Oakland for at least the next two seasons if their relocation is approved, Arrigo doesn’t think is the case.
“From what I’ve been told, and what my gut is telling me, I think the Raiders play one year in Oakland, a lot like the Oilers did before they moved to Tennessee.”
Listen to the full interview with Joe Arrigo, including his scouting report on Menelik Watson and why the Raiders should be looking to leave Oakland, in the podcast below.
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Catch Ryan Edwards and Danny Williams every weekday from 9a-11a on Mile High Sports AM 1340 | FM 104.7 or stream live any time for the best local coverage of Colorado sports from Denver’s biggest sports talk lineup.
