NFL’s vote on Raiders also a victory for sports books
By Todd Dewey, Las Vegas Review-Journal
In the equivalent of a two-minute drill, the NFL changed its view of Las Vegas and legal sports betting.
Less than two years ago, Dallas Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo was forced to cancel a fantasy football convention here because of the NFL’s policy against players being associated with gambling. But on Monday, the league’s owners overwhelmingly approved the Raiders’ relocation from Oakland to America’s gambling capital by a 31-1 vote.
A confluence of factors has led to the growing mainstream acceptance of legal sports betting, from expanding national media coverage to NBA commissioner Adam Silver emerging as a vocal proponent.
But the biggest factor in overcoming the stigma of sports betting and bringing an iconic NFL franchise to Las Vegas was money. As Raiders owner Mark Davis said in April 2016, the team and city made the NFL an offer it couldn’t refuse in the $750 million in taxes that was approved by the Nevada Legislature for construction of a $1.9 billion domed stadium near the Strip.
