While their first game in the city is still several years away, the Oakland Raiders are already working to build their presence in Las Vegas.
In March, the NFL approved the move of the Raiders to Las Vegas, where they will play in a new stadium. A ceremonial groundbreaking was recently held for the stadium, but the Raiders are still working with local officials to complete some key agreements to move the project forward and the facility is not slated to open until 2020.
Leading up to that date, the Raiders will have to start planning for their new home. Some of those efforts are already underway, as team president Marc Badain recently explained that the Raiders already have employees in the region and are working on some other relocation-related plans. More from The Las Vegas Review-Journal:
“We have, between ourselves and a firm called Legends that’s working for us in sales, I believe up to 35 employees already here,” Badain said. “Some (team employees) have moved from the Bay Area here. Some we hired from Nevada, and they’re bringing more to work in the sales center in the next two to three years.
“We have boots on the ground. We have office space. We’ve got a sales center we’re building now. We’ve got retail stores, so we’re getting here.”
Before this month, there was no video of the stadium construction site streaming live on the Raiders’ official website. There is now. On the site’s home page, a link to access those images appears prominently above a continued offer to purchase a $100 deposit for a personal seat license in Las Vegas.
Before this month, where the organization was targeting for its practice facility location was a secret — “probably the worst kept” one, Badain says. Discussions with Henderson are now confirmed to be ongoing for a 55-acre site near Henderson Executive Airport.
In addition, the Raiders have opened a new team store at Town Square Las Vegas and are working on another to be located at Galleria at Sunset mall in Henderson.
Rendering courtesy MANICA Architecture.
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