In Las Vegas, Alan Snel wrote it will be "interesting to see what the breakdown is for the percentage of Nevada residents who pay for personal seat licenses for reserved seats" at the Raiders’ $1.8B domed football stadium "compared to the percentage share of non-state residents." For the 7,000 or so club seats at the Raiders stadium, the breakdown was 73% Nevada residents "buying club seat personal seat licenses," while 27% of the club seat PSLs were "purchased by fans outside the state" (LVSPORTSBIZ.com, 7/21).
REBUILDING THE NEST: In Baltimore, Peter Schmuck wrote Orioles fans are going to have to "reset their expectations for at least a couple of years." The team after trading SS Manny Machado will be "selling the future from here on and -- right now -- it would take the Hubble Telescope to get a really clear view of it." The Orioles were "hoping that their window of postseason opportunity would remain open a crack this season, but it slammed shut with such force that it probably wasn’t necessary to finally raise the white flag in front of the fan base." Aside from pending free agents, it is "entirely possible that the front office will not stop there," especially if Exec VP/Baseball Operations Dan Duquette really "intends to perform a sweeping renovation of the organizational roster" (BALTIMORE SUN, 7/22).
NOW OR NEVER: In Houston, Brian Smith wrote under the header, "Texans Face A Tough Task Catching Up To Astros, Rockets." It is already year five of the Bill O'Brien era as coach, which means that if the Texans "disappoint again, there will ultimately be no one to blame except the man who received the keys to NRG Stadium during the initial days" of '14 (HOUSTON CHRONICLE, 7/22).
