The recent relocations of the Raiders, Chargers and Rams are a "formidable challenge" for the NFL, a league that essentially has been "bulletproof since overtaking baseball in the mid-1980s as the nation’s No. 1 sports league," according to Sam Farmer of the L.A. TIMES. This is "undeniably an experimental period for the NFL, and as team owners headed home this week from their annual meetings, watchful eyes will be trained on California, where most of the tumult has taken place." The "rapid-fire relocations are unusual but not unprecedented." NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said of the three relocated franchises, "Those teams, that wasn’t something that started in the last year or two. They have been struggling with stadiums for at least a decade in almost every one of those cases. So we now have stability." But Farmer writes there is "undoubtedly more pain on the way." Owners "see state-of-the-art stadiums open in other cities and get increasingly dissatisfied with their own aging venues, even if those places are only 20 years old" (L.A. TIMES, 3/30).
PROTECTING THE SHIELD: ESPN’s Field Yates said of Goodell wanting to protect the integrity of the game in Las Vegas, “It’s the right move. This is where you have to be stance-wise if you are the NFL. You can't just move to Vegas and say all the things that you stood against for so many years are just no longer an issue to you. Obviously, the NFL is more willing to accept Las Vegas as a viable, sustainable region, but let’s not be naïve to what it represents" ("NFL Insiders," ESPN, 3/29). ESPN's Mark Dominik said teams and owners, "certainly the head coaches, are going to be very cautious where they plant their team down when they come" to Las Vegas. Dominik: "Certainly the idea of the NFL and actual, direct links to gambling, I think, are never going to be there because I think what Roger Goodell just talked about in terms of integrity of the game is really one of the biggest things he's trying to prove through his legacy as commissioner" (“NFL Insiders,” ESPN, 3/29). PRO FOOTBALL TALK's Mike Florio said, "The NFL’s views on Las Vegas versus the NFL’s views on gambling and the commissioner continues to be front and center trying to find a way to harmonize the two and it can’t be harmonized. ... It's just a matter of time before the facade finally crumbles off of the building and the NFL finds a way to embrace gambling and also to make money off of it” ("PFT," NBCSN, 3/30).
ALL ABOUT HOUSING: U.S. Rep Steve Russell (R-OK) in a special to the WALL STREET JOURNAL writes under the header, "The Oakland Raiders Sack The Taxpayers." U.S. Congress and President Trump "should take the Raiders’ bad example as impetus for reform" and "ask why so many stadiums are following the Las Vegas model." Over the past 30 years, stadium financiers have "exploited a loophole in the tax code to qualify professional sports arenas for municipal bonds." And because federal taxes "aren’t incurred on the interest of this debt, stadiums essentially receive multimillion-dollar subsidies from Washington" (WALL STREET JOURNAL, 3/30).
FEEL FOR THE FANS: In K.C., Terez Paylor notes while Chiefs coach Andy Reid "understands why the move was made, he also sympathizes with the Oakland fans who are about to lose their team." Reid said there is "something special about Oakland" and the fans there. Reid: "You hate seeing the fans losing. I said that with the Chargers. You hate seeing San Diego lose the Chargers.” Reid, however, "doesn’t think the move will have a negative impact on the franchise’s health" (K.C. STAR, 3/30). In Indianapolis, Gregg Doyel writes under the header, "Raiders Move Frightens Me." Doyel: "At some point, the next city to lose an NFL franchise could be ours" (INDIANAPOLIS STAR, 3/30).
