NFL owners are likely to vote next week on whether to allow the Raiders to relocate to Las Vegas, NFL COO Tod Leiweke confirmed to the Leaders SportsBusiness Summit this morning. Leiweke: “Yeah, I think we could very well be there, but only time will tell." Asked whether Las Vegas, the nation’s 40th largest market, is a strong enough one, Leiweke did not directly answer the question, but focused on the $750M the state of Nevada committed in public funds. “Las Vegas is making a statement that we are a big-time market,” he said. “They have put together a compelling public-private partnership for Mark Davis.” Asked what message he would have to the cities that have lost teams recently, he said not having a facility in the works for a team is a fatal flaw. He did not address the city of Oakland’s financing proposal for a new stadium. Meanwhile, Leiweke also said that the NFL is likely to hire in the next few weeks a full time chief medical officer. On changes to the game and broadcast, he disagreed that the length of the game, at an average of three hours and eight minutes, was a problem. He did say the pace of the game is a concern, and that the league may unveil some changes in coming weeks.
