National Football League team owners gave the green light to the Raiders moving to Las Vegas from Oakland, paving the way for the building of a new, $1.9 billion stadium in Sin City, the NFL said on Monday (local time).
The plan by Raiders owner Mark Davis, who has been a driving force behind the relocation, won the support of 31 of the league's 32 owners, with only the Miami Dolphins ownership dissenting.
The Raiders will play the 2017, 2018 and possibly 2019 seasons in Oakland before relocating to Las Vegas in 2020, Davis said during a news conference after the vote.
He acknowledged some fans in Oakland will be disappointed, but said his goal in the meantime was to "bring a championship to Oakland."
The relocation plan appeared to be all but dead after casino mogul Sheldon Adelson and later Goldman Sachs changed their minds about helping to finance the stadium construction earlier this year.
Adelson had pledged up to $650 million ($NZ923m) toward construction of the domed stadium but pulled his support in January after the team presented a lease proposal without his knowledge.
But the Raiders secured financing from Bank of America Corp .
An additional $750 million will come from public funds via a visitor's tax on hotel rooms.
