Oakland Raiders

[whiteswan]

Should they move from Oakland to Las Vegas? Should it be allowed to 'move any club'. It still irks me that Wimbledon were allowed to 'move'. It's just not fair on the fans.

[weasel]

Seems to be a lot more common in the USA where teams are simply franchises and it seems only the really famous ones, i.e. Yankees and Red Sox in baseball are safe. In some ways it makes sense if there is little support for a team that they move to an area with the potential for attracting more support but it still doesn't make it right - should simply allow the new area to set up a team and rise through the leagues. Different in the US where they don't do promotion and relegation so it is a closed shop. Should possibly have a system where there is a reserve league and every ten years 2 teams in the reserve league could apply to replace teams in the major league and teams that had consistently been crap would also have to justify why they should stay in.

[Gandalf]

In before Faaip. - Oakland have previous with this, having moved from Oakland to Los Angeles and back again. I am sure that Faaip can express the fans view.

[John in Louisiana]

I think if we in the US started making team owners pay for their own stadiums they wouldn't be so quick to move.

As it is right now, ridiculous sums of tax dollars are spent on stadiums trying to lure teams away from other cities. Or worse, cities are constantly paying to build new stadiums to keep teams from leaving. In Atlanta, the 25-year-old Georgia Dome was demolished so the Falcons (NFL) could have an even newer stadium. Worse, Turner Field, which was built using billions of tax dollars for the 1996 Olympics is being torn down so the Braves (MLB) can move into an even newer stadium in the suburbs.

If owners were made to own and maintain their own stadiums they would stay put.

[Crude]

Be a Green Bay Packers fan, they ain't moving anywhere, ever. And they are just as passionate and vocal as Leeds United supporters. In my best UK-ese.... a right bunch of nutters the Packers fans are.

[John in Louisiana]

The move has been approved by league owners.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/spo ... 9af94261c1

[whiteswan]

I think if we in the US started making team owners pay for their own stadiums they wouldn't be so quick to move.

As it is right now, ridiculous sums of tax dollars are spent on stadiums trying to lure teams away from other cities. Or worse, cities are constantly paying to build new stadiums to keep teams from leaving. In Atlanta, the 25-year-old Georgia Dome was demolished so the Falcons (NFL) could have an even newer stadium. Worse, Turner Field, which was built using billions of tax dollars for the 1996 Olympics is being torn down so the Braves (MLB) can move into an even newer stadium in the suburbs.

If owners were made to own and maintain their own stadiums they would stay put.

Thank you for your very informative answer John. So very well explained. I grew attached to the 49ers when out in San Francisco. All to do with the fact that the gold prospectors of 1849 gave the name, and for me, that they played at candlestick Park, (what a lovely sounding venu ). Then I read that they have moved to Santa somewhere or another. Very disappointing. But, after reading your post, I can now understand. I don't like it, but at least now I know why this is happening.

[John in Louisiana]

In Las Vegas they're expecting the new stadium for the Raiders will cost about $1.8 BILLION. Of that, $750 million will be paid for using tax dollars.

Of course, the taxpayers will have no ownership stake in either the team or the stadium.

Time and again, American taxpayers are told stadiums and teams will bring economic benefits to the communities they serve, but $1.8 billion represents nearly $3,000 for every man, woman, and child in Las Vegas. Forbes currently lists the value of the Raiders franchise at $2.1 billion.

Stadiums are an economic benefit, and they generate profits, but not for the taxpayers who are funding them. Here in the US we have been remarkably successful- at all levels, not just in professional sports - in getting the general public to buy into the notion that giving money to rich people is somehow what's best for everyone.

[BobHirst]

Be a Green Bay Packers fan, they ain't moving anywhere, ever. And they are just as passionate and vocal as Leeds United supporters. In my best UK-ese.... a right bunch of nutters the Packers fans are.

I read recently that a couple in Green Bay got married and he took his wife's name. He was Mr Smith (something like that) and she was Miss Packer. So after they married they became the Packers.

[mav]

I can see why cities want franchises, but the more they move the less value getting one has..

[The Subhuman]

I have seen the thread.

[Crude]

They will always be the Oakland Raiders, no matter how many cities they shuffle around to. The history of the club still follows it, and probably a large chunk of fans. Still Vegas Raiders, doesn't sound right.

[The Subhuman]

Not happy it's Vegas, but the move seemed inevitable when we fell out with the powers that be in Oakland. San Diego seems more apposite. So Cal is probably the biggest area of support and they'll now be nearer to the club they love. Nevada is a silver and black state already. The Bay area is predominantly red and gold.

The Colosseum is a broken down, 60 year old stadium with leaking roofs and a broken sewage system, we've been leasing it by the year at extortionate rates over the last few years. Al wanted a new stadium in the 60's ...so Oakland did have 60 years to get something sorted. Oakland btw not helping out with a new stadium was the prime reason Al took us to LA and then they didn't supply one either.

If the Raiders had to finance their own stadium we'd no longer be a football club. We're the 32nd poorest team of 32..the only one without a billionaire owner. Sell to a Billionaire owner and he's probably move us as well as change the badge name and colours..

Fair chance Oakland gets a team in the future, small chance it's the Chargers even. But they'd still need to build a stadium.

Raider Nation will survive, the black hole will live on.

The future is DC4, the future is KM52, the future is AC89

$3,000 seems a small price to pay to have the world greatest sports franchise play in your city.

[The Subhuman]

Packers are fan owned IIRC...

[Crude]

Packers are fan owned IIRC...

Yes they are. People buy shares in the club (if they are lucky enough), they are treasured and passed down through the generations. Nothing quite like the GB Packers in all of sport.

http://shareholder.broadridge.com/packers

[Norm]

Crude wrote:
Nothing quite like the GB Packers in all of sport.

..except a few like Borussia Dortmund it would seem Dan.

Wouldn't it be great to have a fan-owned FC Leeds, say on a proven established model such as the Bundesliga, GB Packers, Boca Juniors, FC Barca.

[Norm]

Not really my business Dan but, given your proximity to Green Bay, are you a Packers fan?