The Popcorn Stand: Beware Nevada, the Raiders are (supposedly) coming

I don’t know how the Raiders are going to come up with the financing to move to Las Vegas. I’m not a banker, but I just don’t see asking us Nevadans to pony up $750 million in tax money is going to be all that popular.

And I still don’t see how the $1.9 billion stadium as proposed gets funded. But there seems to be a lot of optimism the Raiders are coming to Vegas, so if for whatever reason there’s a Legislative special session to approve whatever financing package there is, this clause better be included:

If the Raiders leave Nevada before the stadium is paid off — they or the city they move to BUT DEFINITELY NOT NEVADA — pay the remaining balance on the stadium. Because you know the Raiders have never been known to jerk around a city before.

Just ask Los Angeles. Or Irwindale (which thought it had an iron clad contract for a stadium back in the 1980s). Or Inglewood. Or Carson (Calif.). Or San Antonio. Or Oakland.

I don’t want Nevada holding the bill like St. Louis is holding a $100 million bill to pay off its domed stadium after the Rams came back to Los Angeles.

As a 49ers fan, though, I’m glad the Rams are back in L.A. It will be good eventually when the San Francisco 49ers host the Los Angeles Rams in Santa Clara and the Los Angeles Rams host the San Francisco 49ers in Inglewood as it should be.

Back to the Raiders. As a student at USC in the 1980s I was wandering the campus one night and Al Davis was talking to a couple of other men and I had no idea what they were talking about.

But Davis was scary. REAL SCARY. And not because he looked like a 70s hipster who hadn’t changed his wardrobe in 15 years. It was clear Al Davis cared about one thing and that was Al Davis.

And I’m sure the Raiders care about one thing and that’s the Raiders.

Be careful Nevada.

— Charles Whisnand