Can You Bet On The Raiders In Vegas

So is 2021 the year for the Raiders to take the next step and become the best futures bets in the AFC West? Today’s post debates the topic. Can the Las Vegas Raiders Surpass a Division Rival? The Las Vegas Raiders will really kick off in 2021 since they played their games in their new city behind closed doors. But hey, if things are at least somewhat back to normal in September, it may be well worth the wait. The Raiders seem like the best bet of the remaining two teams to make a move, with Las Vegas as the likely destination. Is it just a ploy by the Raiders — like the Patriots once did with Hartford —.

• Can You Bet On The Raiders In Las Vegas
• Raiders Move To Vegas Update

LAS VEGAS (AP) — This is a town built on taking money from people, not giving it to them.

But when the NFL comes calling, all bets may be off.

What seemed unimaginable just a few months ago may no longer be such a stretch. Pair one of the world’s richest men with a team eager to escape Oakland and, who knows, even the most hardcore NFL owners might be persuaded to give this gambling city a try.

Besides, doesn’t “Las Vegas Raiders” have a certain ring to it?

There’s a catch, of course. Actually a couple of them, if you consider the NFL’s longtime refusal to even admit that Las Vegas exists.

This is, you might remember, a league that just a few years ago wouldn’t allow the city to run ads during the Super Bowl, lest it somehow corrupt the game. The league that just last year told Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo he couldn’t run a fantasy football convention in Las Vegas because holding an event at a property owned by a casino was against NFL rules.

The same hypocritical league that has tried to position itself as some sort of moral authority when it comes to sports betting, when in fact the point spread played a big role in helping make it the most popular league in the country.

But now Mark Davis wants to bring his Raiders to town, or so it seems. Rebuffed by the NFL in his attempt to move to Los Angeles and apparently not feeling any love from politicians in Oakland he has set his sights on Sin City as the new home of the silver and black.

In a town that has seen almost every scam imaginable, some might laugh at the thought of being played like a sucker in the NFL relocation game. But Davis has an ace in the hole in billionaire casino owner Sheldon Adelson, who is spearheading — make that steamrolling — a proposed $1.4 billion stadium just off the glittering Strip to host the Raiders.

Davis is expected to be at a meeting Thursday of a commission studying the stadium issue, and there are reports he will publicly commit to moving his team if the city will commit to a stadium.

That surely will get the attention of Roger Goodell and others in the NFL offices in New York.

The problem is, Adelson doesn’t want to spend much of his own money — Forbes says he’s worth $28.9 billion — building the stadium. A preliminary plan for the stadium calls for two-thirds of the money to be raised by tourist taxes, including some that rival hotel operators want used for an expansion of the city’s convention center.

But what Adelson wants in Las Vegas he usually gets. That includes the city’s daily newspaper, which he bought just before plans for the new stadium became public and which has been an unabashed cheerleader for the project.

And in a town that has seen more than its share of big ideas and failed dreams, really, what’s $1.4 billion among friends?

Actually, there’s a lot to like about the Raiders in Las Vegas. A rebel team for a rebel town, it’s almost a perfect match, assuming the NFL can somehow overcome its betting phobia.

And with thousands of fans expected to come to town for each game, imagine how the city’s airport will look on a game morning with Raider fans in their Sunday best.

Still, there remains the betting issue. Some old school NFL owners still view it as a stigma that can’t be overcome, and Davis would have to get 23 other owners to agree on the move before it could be made.

But the league is playing an expanded schedule in London, where there are betting parlors on every corner. And Goodell opened the door just a bit to the possibility of Las Vegas last month, softening the league’s stance by saying “ultimately each owner would have a vote on that.”

The NHL doesn’t seem to have such qualms and may award the city an expansion franchise for the new T-Mobile Arena on the Strip in coming weeks. NBA commissioner Adam Silver is also on record as saying sports betting is good for business as long as it is legal and well regulated.

The NFL was always going to be a longshot for Las Vegas, and still probably is. To land a team, NFL owners would have to change some deeply held mindsets, and politicians would have to take a risky gamble on public financing of the stadium.

Davis would also have to prove he’s not like his carpet bagging father, who moved the Raiders to Los Angeles and back, while pocketing a $10 million deposit from the small city of Irwindale in 1989 on a failed stadium bid there.

Indeed, the obstacles would have seemed insurmountable before Adelson put the full weight of his wealth and influence behind it.

Suddenly, though, it’s getting more difficult to find anyone willing to lay odds against it.

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Tim Dahlberg is a national sports columnist for The Associated Press. Write to him at tdahlberg@ap.org or http://twitter.com/timdahlberg

Las Vegas Raiders rumors heated up this week with word that could be the next quarterback traded, with the team eyeing Deshaun Watson. While there will be plenty of surprises this NFL offseason, that is one someone very close to Jon Gruden doesn’t expect to happen.

It is impossible to blame the Raiders for being interested in Watson. Despite playing for one of the most dysfunctional organizations in sports, the 25-year-old quarterback posted MVP-caliber numbers this past season. With Watson demanding a trade, teams are imagining what the star passer would look like in their offense.

Las Vegas Raiders rumors:Derek Carr hot commodity in trade talks, team could pursue Deshaun Watson

Under Gruden, the Raiders have done a solid job building a strong supporting cast on offense. Not only does Las Vegas boast a quality offensive line, but its cast of weapons with Josh Jacobs, Darren Waller and Henry Ruggs III is exciting. While Carr is coming off a quality season, the Raiders might be one of those clubs wondering how much better Watson makes them.

Las Vegas Raiders rumors: Team likely to keep Derek Carr in 2021?

It can be difficult to predict what Jon Gruden, who has control over roster decisions, will do with the Raiders. This team has made plenty of surprise decisions in recent years, with Gruden betting on his gut and eye for talent. Amid the circulating Carr trade rumors, at least one person close to Jon doesn’t think anything comes of it.

“I don’t know. I never know what Jon’s gonna do. But I’d be shocked, really. The way that Derek played this year, I don’t know why he’d want to get rid of him,” Jay Gruden told The Athletic. “But who knows, if there’s another guy out there that they really, really like, it is a business at the end of the day. You got to think about not only the year coming up but the future five, six, seven years. Jon’s going to be there for the next six, seven years, so he’s got to think about that as well.

It’s not like Carr didn’t play well this past season. He started all 16 games, completing 67.3% of his passes with a 27/9 TD/INT ratio, a 101.4 quarterback rating and 4,103 passing yards. Furthermore, per Pro Football Reference, he had the ninth-highest rate of on-target throws (78.9%). Carr also received the ninth-highest overall grade among quarterbacks from Pro Football Focus this season.

Read More: Las Vegas Raiders would destroy their future with Derek Carr trade

Entering his age-30 season, he has proven he is a high-end passer among his peers. Carrying a $22.5 million cap hit this season and ranking 15th among his peers in average salary ($25 million), Carr’s contract also makes him one of the most valuable players at the position.

Can You Bet On The Raiders In Las Vegas

Watson would be an upgrade over Carr, that goes without saying. However, the Raiders are one of the few teams who would be better off using their draft picks to address other needs on the roster and sticking with the quarterback they have. If Las Vegas can dedicate this offseason to upgrade its defense and finding a No. 1 receiver, this will be a playoff contender in 2021.

Raiders rumors: Richard Sherman shows interest in signing with Las Vegas

Raiders Move To Vegas Update

Given Houston’s asking price, the Las Vegas Raiders would be wise to stick with Based on his play and the level of trade interest in him around the league, signing him to a contract extension might be a good idea.