NFL Owners approve Raiders’ relocation to Las Vegas

On Monday at the NFL owner’s meetings in Phoenix, Arizona, the NFL approved the relocation of the Raiders franchise from Oakland to Las Vegas. Roger Goodell announced the move in a press conference this afternoon. The relocation will involve the construction of a new stadium on the Las Vegas Strip and is expected to take effect once the stadium is complete, sometime in 2019 or beyond. The stadium deal also includes significant public funding.

The vote totals showed that the league’s owners were overwhelming in their support of the move:

This will be the third move in the Raiders’ history. They originated in Oakland but moved to Los Angeles in 1982, then returned to Oakland once again prior to the 1994 season.

After losing Super Bowl XXXVII after the 2002 season, the Raiders went through a 13-year playoff drought, never finishing with a winning record or ending the season higher than third in the AFC West between 2003-2015. In 2016, the Raiders went 12-4, making the playoffs as a Wild Card.

The Raiders will also become the second professional franchise in Las Vegas. The Vegas Golden Knights, an NHL expansion franchise, will begin play at the T-Mobile Arena for the 2017-18 season.

Here’s a look at a potential design of the Raiders’ new stadium in Las Vegas:

The Green Bay Packers last played a regular season road game in Oakland in 2015, Therefore, they are not scheduled to play in Las Vegas until the 2023 season, as they will play the Raiders at Lambeau Field in 2019.