The NFL on Monday approved a move of the Raiders from Oakland to Las Vegas. But the move may not occur until at least 2019, meaning the Seahawks could still have a couple of trips left to Oakland.
The NFL on Monday officially approved the move of the Oakland Raiders — once one of the Seahawks’ fiercest rivals — to Las Vegas during league meetings in Phoenix.
But the caveat is that the move is not expected until at least 2019 and possibly not until 2020 when a new stadium in Las Vegas, which is luring the Raiders south, is completed (Sam Boyd Stadium, where UNLV plays, is apparently not considered as a viable option as an interim home).
Oakland Raiders owner Mark Davis said at a press conference announcing the move the team has two one-year leases with the Oakland Alameda Coliseum and plans to play there through at least 2018 and could play there in 2019 depending on the progress of the Vegas stadium.
A weird lameduck situation on the horizon? No doubt. But Davis, son of longtime Raiders’ owner Al Davis, seems committed to stay in Oakland through at least 2018, saying he’d like to “bring a championship to Oakland” before leaving town.
Assuming all of that holds true, then the Seahawks could have at least one, and possibly two, more trips to Oakland — both possibly in what could be the Raiders’ final season in the Bay Area,
The Seahawks have played their final preseason game against the Raiders every season since 2006. The game is always held on a Thursday before the final cutdown date and each team likes playing a team that is a short trip away for the final preseason game — it’s the shortest possible trip for Seattle with the 49ers not an option as a division opponent the team will already face twice in the regular season.
The teams have played home and home annually since then, with the Seahawks playing in Oakland in every even season since 2006 to end the preseason.
Seattle has not announced preseason games yet for the future — typically those are announced in the spring heading into each season — but if the Seahawks stick to that routine then they could have another preseason game in Oakland against the Raiders in 2018.
Regardless of the preseason game, what won’t change is Seattle’s regular season contest in 2018 at Oakland, which is already set as part of the NFL’s schedule rotation.
Each NFC division plays each AFC division every four years, with the teams alternating home and road. Oakland played at Seattle in 2014 so the Seahawks will go there in 2018.
Based on that same schedule rotation, though, the earliest the Seahawks would play a game in Las Vegas against the Raiders would be 2026 — assuming the team holds to its plan to stay in Oakland through at least 2018.
Seattle last played a regular season game in Oakland on Oct. 31, 2010, a 33-3 loss in what was Pete Carroll’s first year as coach.
The Seahawks have played 13 games overall in Oakland with the two teams having each been part of the AFC West from 1977-2001 before Seattle moved to the NFC.
Seattle is 4-9 all-time in regular season games in Oakland and has not won a game there since 1997, a 22-21 victory.
The move was approved 31-1 with the lone dissenting vote coming from Miami.