How Nevada Killed Oakland Football: The Oakland Raiders

Thanks for watching all the way through. Subscribe below    / @fadedstandings   Nevada's Senate Bill 1, signed on 17 October 2016, promised up to $750 million in public stadium bonds before any team had applied, on one condition: the money could only become a stadium once the NFL authorized a team to locate or relocate to the Las Vegas area and that team committed to a lease of at least 30 years. For a club that already had a home, coming meant leaving. On 12 January 2017 the Chargers took the option on the Inglewood stadium, and seven days later the Raiders filed to move to Las Vegas. On 24 March Oakland sent its final plan; Roger Goodell's reply that evening cited the site, Fortress's role and the Athletics' long-term commitment to the Coliseum. On 27 March in Phoenix, 31 of 32 owners approved the move. Oakland was awarded the American Football League's eighth franchise on 30 January 1960, after the Minneapolis group left. The club was named the Senors on 5 April and renamed the Raiders on 14 April. It played in San Francisco until 1962, hired Al Davis in January 1963, and moved into the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum on 18 September 1966. On 31 December 1967 it won the AFL championship there, 40-7 over Houston. Under John Madden the Raiders won the Heidi Game in 1968 and the Sea of Hands playoff in 1974, then Super Bowl XI on 9 January 1977. Tom Flores won Super Bowl XV on 25 January 1981. After that season the team left for Los Angeles. The Raiders came back on 3 September 1995. The Coliseum authority borrowed for a renovation of about $200 million, including the new upper deck fans named Mount Davis, and personal seat licenses sold far below projections. The Raiders reached the Super Bowl after the 2002 season and lost to Jon Gruden's Tampa Bay, then went thirteen straight seasons without a winning record. In 2016 they went 12-4; Derek Carr broke his leg on 24 December. On 24 December 2018, after a 27-14 win over Denver, Carr ran to the Black Hole and walked the stadium thanking fans. On 15 December 2019, at what was then RingCentral Coliseum, the Raiders lost their last game in Oakland to Jacksonville, 20-16, in front of 52,788. The franchise still exists as the Las Vegas Raiders and has played at Allegiant Stadium since 21 September 2020. SB1 defines the team only as "the National Football League team that is locating or relocating within the stadium district" (section 13); the stadium agreements required NFL authorization and the team's commitment (section 29). Goodell's letter of 24 March 2017 says the league had "long accepted" the city's position that no public funds were available for stadium construction in Oakland. Some reports quote a shorter version of that sentence; the wording here follows the letter. Built from the text of the Nevada statute, the league's and the city's letters of March 2017, contemporary wire copy, box scores and club records. Sources Statutes of Nevada 2016, 30th Special Session, Chapter 2 (Senate Bill 1), Southern Nevada Tourism Improvements Act Letter from NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell to Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf, 24 March 2017, published by Bay Area News Group Letters from Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf to the NFL, March 2017 NFL.com, on Goodell's response to Oakland's final stadium proposal, March 2017 NBC Sports Bay Area, on Derek Carr's goodbye at the Coliseum, 24 December 2018 Associated Press, on Derek Carr's broken leg against Indianapolis, 24 December 2016 Associated Press, on the Raiders' last game in Oakland, 15 December 2019 The Ringer and Yahoo Sports, on the Raiders' final game in Oakland, December 2019 San Francisco Chronicle, on the Raiders' stadium history in the Bay Area SFGate, on the Coliseum seat licenses, 2005 Associated Press, on the death of Carol Davis, October 2025 Raiders.com, franchise historical timeline Pro-Football-Reference, box scores and attendance