Can it support two NFL teams? I think you and some others are really underestimating the Las Vegas market. They have a higher populated metro area than 9 other NFL cities. They'll also be one of the few NFL markets without a NBA or MLB team to compete with in terms of season ticket holders. I don't know why it matters that there are a lot of casinos that would buy clubs, suites and tickets. It's the same thing has Fortune 500 companies in other cities doing the same thing. You could say a lot of cities are no better than x city without big companies Head Quartered in those cities. Completely agree with you and others about visiting teams fans. That'll likely be a much larger portion of their fanbase especially with how rare it is that a team (other than the Chiefs, Chargers & Broncos) will play in Vegas for more than 1 consecutive season. The NFC teams will only play in Vegas 1 time every 8 years. 12 of the AFC teams will only play in Vegas once every 6 years (excluding the ones that finish with the same record in their division as the Raiders the previous season AND have the AFC west flex game as an away game). The Texans could play in Vegas in 21 and will play in 22. The Oilers only had 1 lame duck season in Houston and they were 6-2 on the road and 2-6 at home so a dead home stadium could really hurt the team but I think the Raiders will get better fan support than the Oilers did. I think it'll be a nice swan song for them and generate regret about not financing a stadium. I think you can see a high correlation in stadium funding and on the field success. Great move by the NFL. They'll get the token Super Bowl for building a stadium but they easily join New Orleans and Miami in the rotation. LA will likely join that same rotation and then the occasional random city like Tampa, Houston or Phoenix and any future city that builds a new stadium. The only city I could see building something new is Washington DC. They don't have anything other than renderings but they seem like they could get it done more than Buffalo. To be fair to the Raiders, they have spent 22 years trying to get a new stadium in Oakland and the team is not in position where it can finance a private stadium. You don't have the same opportunity to build something as a part of a giant development project that can attract a lot of wealth that is already in the city like you have in Los Angeles.
Regarding lame duck status...the Belichick Browns were leading the division and looking pretty good, already coming off a playoff appearance. That coaching staff and front office was a "who's who" of future coaches/gm's/personnel members (Nick Sabah, Ozzie Newsome, Mike Lombardi, Kirk Ferentz, Mangini, Crennel, Jim Schwartz). Then they announced they were moving to Baltimore, and it all fell apart. And knowing what we know about Belichick now, it wasn't because of his strategy.
In the short term, it won't matter at all. The locals will buy up season tickets in droves, and like I said earlier... the Casinos will all play a major part in not just the suite/club sales, but actual sections of normal seat tickets that they will simply give away to their best rewards players. Its what happens over the long-haul and when the team starts to take a downturn. Vegas is not a huge media market (40th)... it actually will end up the 2nd smallest in front of Jacksonville (47th). In the end, they will (overly) rely upon the visiting fans/tourists to populate all those games, and they'll probably be just fine... as long as the economy and casino industry is doing well. Early estimates of 20-30k road fans/game seem a bit high.... then again, when there's only one game every 8 or so years there (if you're an NFC team), why not go all-out and make a huge weekend of it?
Your point raises another interesting question about future Super Bowl rotation. With the glut of recent or new under-construction stadiums, the Super Bowl rotation could get really big with all these warm weather cities coming into play. Permanent historical site: New Orleans Miami In regular rotation: Houston Tampa Bay Glendale Recent stadium additions: Dallas New York Indianapolis San Francisco Minneapolis Under construction: Atlanta Los Angeles Las Vegas Washington D.C. (possible) That's 14-15 deep in the selection pool. Of course, Los Angeles, Las Vegas, San Francisco, Miami, New Orleans will be heavy favorites in any bid. Also, Dallas with Jerry Jones and New York with the Mara family yield too much power in the NFL not to get at least one every decade. Therefore, Houston might not get another host for at least a decade or more at which point NRG Stadium might be 25-30 years old.
Suite sales, yes. But I expect the local fans to buy up all season tickets available to them very quickly. I wonder how they will determine who gets to buy tickets? Will there be a lottery system? Won't there be Some local people buying season tickets just to resale them for a profit to out-of-towners. However, I'm not saying there will be a lot of Vegas residents who won't want to go to the games. Vegas metro area has about 2 million people. I expect interest by the locals to be very strong.
I feel bad for Oakland fans, ouch. Not only that their team is moving but they actually were good and finally turning the corner. Imagine the Texans finally getting their franchise QB...and then moving.
San Francisco and Dallas bids have an inherent disadvantage of stadiums being quite far from the city center, and unpredictable February weather. Houston isn't in the rotation, but they'll be in consideration. Atlanta was in the rotation, then a freak ice storm during the last SB there made it less desirable. They're back in with another new stadium for now. I expect Houston to get a shot every 12-15 years. They just do that good of a job each time, and the events are all within close proximity to each other. The main rotation is miami, New Orleans and Los Angeles. San Diego would also have been there with a new stadium, but they're out. Phoenix/Glendale is a tier below, but is still a very desirable site.
Agreeeeed. I can see your point about the long term but I think lack of competing pro sports teams (other than NHL) will help move tickets regardless. Who is estimating up to 30k or road fans? That does seem super high. Cool Post. I don't agree that Houston is in a regular rotation. They got the token Super Bowl in 04 but didn't host for another 13 years and there were other teams that had repeat Super Bowls. It might have to do with Mcnair's power in the league but it was a well run event. I'm sure they like going there but I wouldn't count on seeing more than 1 a decade. New York, Indy and Minneapolis will never get another super bowl. No one wants a Super Bowl in the north but they always give a game to teams who build new stadiums. I guess Dallas would go into a regular rotation or they could be in the same category as Houston. Jerry has a lot of power, their stadium is huge and Dallas is a big city. I don't think they'll be going back to Glendale.
The Raiders need a makeover. They need wealthier fans and they need a modern stadium. Trust fund baby Mark actually bought LasVegasRaiders.com on December 25th 1998!
This will settle relocation in the NFL for a little while. You won't see things open back up until around 2025 with Jacksonville, Buffalo and then around 2030 with Tennessee. ____ Do you trust Bob McNair? http://www.houstonchronicle.com/spo...ease-not-public-money-was-reason-11031853.php Oakland A's lease, not public money, was reason Raiders got yes vote for Vegas
So basically there's one team left standing and that's the A's. I wonder if they are going to do something in that area
The As now have a lot more freedom in building a new park now. They can build a new stadium in their current parking lot while they continue to play at their current stadium. That's pretty much what most baseball teams do. The question is how they pay for it. I'm not sure if the city would be more willing to give them public money after losing the Raiders. I'm not sure if Oakland cares that they are losing the Warriors to San Fransisco since it has always been a shared team. The As and MLB in general are seen has having less money than the NFL but the city and people still might not change their mind. The As were 3rd to last in Profit at 32 million while the SF Giants were 4th at 72 million. Recent baseball stadiums have been about 500-700 million dollars. I just don't see how they could afford to build a stadium without public funds. You would just be looking at the status quo which might be fine for everyone. The MLB doesn't really have a lot of markets that are trying to get a team so it's not like they have options. The economics of baseball payroll is so much different than the NFL. That profit level is directly correlated with the team payroll so the As are 4th to last in total payroll. At least you see a competitive advantage when teams can move into new stadiums and increase payroll. I also think you improve the fan experience a lot more with MLB stadiums that go from multi-sport to baseball specific. The sight lines are so much better and fans are closer to the action. The thing hurting the As is that their attendance is so low right now. How many more fans can they expect to attract with a new stadium? They were 2nd to last with around 18,000 people a game. They only averaged 25,000 people a game in the last year they made the playoffs. At the end of the day, Oakland can't get close to decent attendance for baseball and football was 3rd from the last as well. I think there is a serious question as to if Oakland can support a team that competes for attention with a 2nd team in the bay area.
My friend who follows baseball thinks the A's are going to leave because MLB is changing some revenue sharing laws. The As have been milking it for awhile. from the bay area news site http://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/...-s-in-the-Coliseum-may-have-cost-11029015.php The A’s are open to moving somewhere else in Oakland, but the team has yet to settle on a new site. Local politicians, meanwhile, are leery of forcing a move. In part, that’s out of fear that the A’s would use the eviction as a reason for Major League Baseball to support the team’s long-standing goal of leaving Oakland — an idea the A’s shelved because of MLB’s opposition.
