Update on the Raiders in Las Vegas--4/28/16--The Silver and Black State.

Mike Davis, the owner of the Raiders, has committed a half billion of his own dollars to build a stadium in Las Vegas.  I do not know all of the details, and I can't find a good rendering, however, this is what I know.

Funding does not look like it will be a problem, with most of the cost coming from the Raiders and some of the casino owners in town.  However, it will take some city money to provide the underlying infrastructure as sports facilities have greater SWPPP requirements than other projects.  There are also parking structures and other such items to build, which often a city will pay for as long as there is year-round use for it.  The commitment from the community will be minimal.  Which I understand could happen with simply a minor increase in hotel taxes.  Most visitors won't know the difference, as they go to Sin City to lose money, anyway.  What's an extra buck or two on a hotel when you lose your shirt?

Here are some other details that I have been able to glean.  The final stadium may vary from this.  These things always change from the early planning stages.

-The new stadium will seat 65,000...possibly expandable to 75,000 to host the Super Bowl and provide extra seating for other special events.  But the latter detail is not confirmed.
-It will either be domed stadium, or with a retractable roof.
-The stadium would likely also be the new home of UNLV football and the Las Vegas Bowl in addition to the Raiders.  This wouldn't only facility in the NFL that is shared with a local college team on a permanent basis.  Until recently, the Saints shared their home with Tulane.  The Buccaneers share their home with USF.  The Eagles and Temple play in the same stadium.  The Chargers and San Diego State also share a stadium, but it is unclear if this will continue with the new stadium in San Diego.  Qualcomm field is close to campus, and SDSU may remain there...with some renovations, of course.  There are many other examples from the past that I do not need to mention, I think you get the point.
-The stadium could also host the NCAA final four, if it has either a permanent or retractable roof.
-The stadium will likely host premiere boxing matches and other similar events.
-The stadium could be the home of a new annual music festival.
-The stadium may also host an MLS franchise, and the field will likely be soccer-friendly.

The state and city were already in negotiation with UNLV to build a new stadium, however, the traction was not there to give the Rebels a new football filed, at least not yet.  Below is what UNLV was trying to build, but they couldn't get the state allow UNLV to pay their share of the construction costs.  Which could be an obstacle still, but with Davis's Benjamins, it could now be a reality.  And the share that UNLV would have to pay might be less, much less.   The Raiders stadium might look something like this, but on a grander scale, and may not.  In this shot, the roof is cut-away.  At the side of the stadium we can't see in this view (Not the end zone, but the sideline), there is a large stage, running goal-line to goal line, which could hold the extra seats needed to host the Super Bowl.  There is also an large LCD screen above the state.

Here is a view from the inside:

There are some other roadblocks to getting the Raiders there in the meantime.  Mostly, that pro sports leagues, not just the NFL, are hesitant to locate in Las Vegas...but this blog has already addressed that issue.  I have one thing to add, however.  There are three NCAA conferences, the Mountain West, the PAC-12 and the WCC that have their men's and women's conference championship tournaments in Las Vegas.  The most intriguing of these is the WCC, which is is the home of ultra-conservative, stone-cold sober, BYU and 9 other private, religious institutions.  Most of the WCC schools are Roman Catholic Jesuit schools who all very much against gambling and prostitution.  If the WCC can play in Vegas, so can the NFL.

Also, in spite of playing in one of the worst 3 stadiums currently in the NFL for 2016, the Oakland Raiders are nearly sold out of season tickets for the upcoming season.  That is part of the problem with sports moves.  You will leave fans behind.  The fans want the team to stay in Oakland.  They don't want to follow the team to Las Vegas, and are voting for their wallets.  This is why I think that Davis and Oakland should make one last effort to keep the team in the Bay Area.  Bring the A's, Warriors and Sharks together on this as well and work out a deal.

One other obstacle to overcome for the Raiders is that if they make the move, where would they play in 2017?  Certainly remaining in Oakland wouldn't work.  Sam Boyd Stadium, the current home of the UNLV Rebels, isn't exactly an NFL Stadium.  It currently holds just 40,000 if you put seats at the North (open) end.  It will take 2-3 years to build the new facility.  However, the Titans played one year at Vanderbilt stadium, which is about the same size as SBS while waiting for Nissan Stadium to finish.  The Bears played at Northwestern while Soldier Field was being renovated, which is only slightly larger.  The Vikings have been playing for the last 2 and 1/2 seasons at the University of Minnesota, which is larger, but not protected from the weather.  This may only be a slight concern.  There may be temporary considerations to help overcome concerns about the old Silver Bowl as a temporary home.

One last comment.  Why isn't Davis taking his half billion to Oakland and building there?  It has to do with the cost of living difference.  Companies aren't leaving California in droves, but many are moving some of their operations out of the Bay Area because of cost.  I work for one such company.  We are not moving everything to Utah, and certainly not the company headquarters, but much of it will be relocated here to save cost.

Because of cost, the half Billion that Davis is willing to spend on a new stadium will not go as far in Oakland.  Yes, he can build a stadium there, but it will not be as nice.  In Las Vegas, Davis can build something that will rival the new Rams stadium, or perhaps be the very nicest in the NFL.  But in Oakland, it will only be your average, median stadium, at best.  Plus, it will only be for the Raiders.  No Super Bowl, no Final Four, no Boxing, no music festival.

In conclusion, even though I think the Raiders owe it to their fans to make one last try to remain where they are, I understand why Mike Davis wants to move.  And if they do move to Las Vegas, which is only a 6 hour drive (plus crossing a time zone) from my home in the Salt Lake Valley, I might just go see a game (of course it will be on Monday Night).  I've never been to an NFL game, and it is on my bucket list.

Proposal for the Big Sky Conference

With New Mexico State and Idaho closer to accepting relegation, perhaps it is time for the Big Sky Conference to consider its options.  And the WAC finally kicking the bucket opens up a possibility.  And one options I think they should consider is splitting.  There is always the talk of how cool a conference championship game would be.  But at the FCS level, you do not get extra credit for being super large.  The BSC will have one and only one automatic NCAA bid whether the conference is at 20 members or 7.  The other problem is that conference members will have a harder time finding quality non-conference that they can travel to with a super-large conference.  Super Conferences aren't always the best solution.

Therefore, I suggest that the conference split once formally joined by Idaho and New Mexico State for football.  It can be a football-only split, as some members of the conference are football-only schools.

Big Sky Conference

Eastern Washington
Idaho
Idaho State
Montana
Montana State
North Dakota
Portland State
Weber State


Western Rivers Conference

Cal Poly (Football Only)
UC Davis (Football Only)
San Diego  (Football Only)
Dixie State
Northern Arizona
Northern Colorado
New Mexico State
Sacramento State
Southern Utah
Seattle (Non Football)
CSU Bakersfield (Non Football)
Utah Valley (Non Football)
Grand Canyon (Non Football)


This is what I have done.  The Original 5 members of the BSC make up the new BSC, rounded out by EWU, PSU and UND.  There is unity.  These are all public schools and with the exception of UND in place of Sacramento State, have been in the same conference for decades.

The new WRC, has the football only schools, put San Diego University, an outlier of the Pioneer conference.  but has 5 football schools as a base with the inclusion of DSU and NMSU for football.  There are the 4 other remnants from the non-football WAC joining the full-time schools for basketball and the so-called Olympic Sports.

The benefits will be a new conference and a second automatic bid to the NCAA football tournament and basketball tournament, etc.  And there will be help with scheduling.  And it team that finishes 8-3 will not be 5th in the conference.

Think about it.  A Big Sky is good, but a really big sky, not so much.