The Raiders should send the Rams a thank-you card.
asserted
Raiders → send → card
Certainly nothing that suggests they intend to be gracious hosts Sunday at Allegiant Stadium.
uncertain
they → suggest → Stadium
Just a little acknowledgment that sometimes the people who stand in the way of what you want inadvertently help you find exactly what you need.
asserted
you → stand → what
In the Raiders’ case, that turned out to be Las Vegas.
asserted
that → turn → case
And a magnificent stadium that looks like someone took the franchise’s personality, poured it into an architectural drawing and built it just off the Strip.
asserted
someone → look → Strip
Their town, at least when it comes to the NFL.
asserted
it → come → NFL
Getting here required swallowing a bitter pill.
asserted
Getting → get → pill
But with the Rams arriving Sunday for their first game at Allegiant Stadium, preseason or regular season, the Raiders can appreciate how that disappointment helped change their future.
asserted
disappointment → arrive → future
They wanted Los Angeles.
asserted
They → want → Angeles
They might have gotten something better.
uncertain
They → get → something
To understand how, rewind to 2015, when three NFL franchises were searching for stadium solutions and Los Angeles was the biggest prize on the board.
asserted
Angeles → understand → board
The Rams had an escape hatch in St. Louis.
asserted
Rams → have → Louis
The Edward Jones Dome had failed to satisfy the first-tier stadium requirements in their lease, allowing them to shift to a year-to-year arrangement and pursue a return to Southern California.
asserted
them → fail → California
Rams owner Stan Kroenke, a land developer at heart, had his eye on 298 acres in Inglewood, on which he would build a state-of-the-art stadium and surround it with a massive mixed-use master-planned district.
asserted
he → have → district
The Raiders were stuck trying to make an increasingly untenable stadium situation work in Oakland.
asserted
situation → stick → Oakland
The Chargers were fighting their own seemingly endless battle to secure a new home in San Diego.
asserted
Chargers → fight → Diego
Eventually, the Raiders and Chargers joined forces on a proposed shared stadium in Carson.
asserted
Raiders → join → Carson
What followed was a yearlong soap opera of competing proposals, shifting alliances and powerful owners trying to determine who would get access to the country’s second-largest market.
asserted
who → follow → market
Kroenke had the money and the development vision to deliver something far beyond a football stadium in Inglewood.
asserted
Kroenke → have → Inglewood
His project offered the NFL a destination, a showcase and a solution to a Los Angeles problem that had dragged on for two decades.
asserted
that → offer → decades
But solving Kroenke’s problem also meant figuring out what to do with the Raiders and Chargers.
asserted
solving → solve → Raiders
A two-team stadium offered a way forward.
asserted
stadium → offer → way
And from a football perspective, the obvious pairing was sitting right there.
asserted
pairing → sit → perspective
The same Raiders popularity that made the pairing compelling, though, also made it complicated for the Rams.
asserted
it → make → Rams
Building a spectacular stadium is one thing.
asserted
Building → build → stadium
Sharing it with a franchise capable of commanding so much of the hometown attention is another.
asserted
Sharing → share → attention
Ultimately, the NFL approved the Rams’ move and gave the Chargers the first option to join them.
asserted
NFL → approve → them
The Raiders were left waiting, with an opportunity contingent on the Chargers passing.
asserted
Chargers → leave → opportunity
Your stadium situation remained unresolved.
asserted
situation → remain → ?
Your preferred relocation plan had fallen apart.
asserted
plan → fall → ?
And your next move depended, in part, on someone else’s decision.
asserted
move → depend → decision
It looked like a defeat.
asserted
It → look → defeat
Then Las Vegas emerged as a real possibility.
asserted
Vegas → emerge → possibility
What followed took considerable work, political support and a substantial public investment.
asserted
followed → follow → work
Nevada and the Raiders assembled the partnership Oakland could not, creating a stadium agreement that transformed the franchise’s financial future while giving Las Vegas a major new stage.
uncertain
that → assemble → stage
The Raiders got their long-sought home.
asserted
Raiders → get → home
Las Vegas got an NFL team and a building capable of attracting events far beyond the football schedule.
asserted
Vegas → get → schedule
The difference for the Raiders went beyond a new address.
asserted
difference → go → address
For years, their stadium predicament had defined so much of their existence.
asserted
predicament → define → existence
Every conversation about their future seemed to come with a question mark.
asserted
conversation → seem → mark
…and 12 more, not listed.
The Aporia
