Shortly following the announcement by the NFL that team owners have approved the move of the Oakland Raiders to Las Vegas, Nevada for the 2012 season, San Francisco 49ers general manager John Lynch joined NFL Network to discuss the decision.
"I live in San Diego so I know what a community goes through and has just recently," Lynch said. "It's fresh and there's a lot of emotion that goes into this. People...that's become a fabric of who they are as a family. I grew up a Charger fan. I used to go. We were season ticket holders. So it hurt me before I was doing this and still now, I'm a Charger fan. And so that hurts.
"First of all, I empathize with the people of Oakland because I know what you're going through and it's not easy. I'm sure there's a lot of anger and all that. I think the owners did what they felt was best for the league.
"Now, part of me says, 'I think it's good for us.' And Raider fans, we're open for business. Come and jump on our train. But the Raiders are a great brand and I think it kind of transcends the location. I'm sure a lot of those people will go down to Vegas and have a good time supporting them in the future."
The vote for the move needed just 24 votes from the 32 NFL owners to get approved. It received 31 approval votes with just the owner of the Miami Dolphins being responsible for the vote against the relocation.
The Raiders have announced that they would like to play the next two seasons at the Oakland-Alameda Coliseum. The team has two more years left on their contract with 2018 being optional. After that, they may look at a temporary one-year location until their new $1.9 billion domed stadium near the infamous Las Vegas Strip is complete. One possibility would be a renovated stadium at UNLV or, as Ian Rapoport of NFL Network reported on Monday, the home of the 49ers – Levi's Stadium.
