PEMBROKE PARK, Fla. – The Oakland Raiders are moving to Las Vegas, against the wishes of the Miami Dolphins.
NFL team owners voted Monday in Phoenix to approve the Raiders' proposal to relocate to Las Vegas, NFL Network's Ian Rapoport reported.
The final vote was 31-1, with Dolphins owner Stephen Ross being the lone vote against the move.
"My position today was that we as owners and as a league owe it to the fans to do everything we can to stay in the communities that have supported us until all options have been exhausted," Ross told Miami Herald reporter Adam Beasley.
Now, the Raiders are set to become the second pro franchise in Las Vegas, following the NHL's Golden Knights, who begin play in the fall in an already-built arena. The Raiders could spend the next two or even three seasons in the Bay Area before their stadium -- whose estimated cost has recently dropped from $1.9 billion to $1.7 billion -- is ready.
Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf and a group trying to keep the team in Oakland made a last-ditch presentation to the NFL last week. But that letter was "filled with uncertainty," NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said.
The Raiders are the third team in as two years to relocate to another city. The Rams moved from St. Louis back to Los Angeles before last season, and the Chargers moved from San Diego to Los Angeles earlier this year.
Once the Raiders move, it will mark the franchise's third relocation since its inception in 1960. The team moved from Oakland to Los Angeles in 1982 and returned to Oakland after the 1994 season.
"The Raiders were born in Oakland, and Oakland will always be part of our DNA," Raiders owner Mark Davis said in a statement on the team's website. "We know that some fans will be disappointed and even angry, but we hope that they do not direct that frustration to the players, coaches and staff. We plan to play at the (Oakland-Alameda County) Coliseum in 2017 and 2018, and hope to stay there as the Oakland Raiders until the new stadium opens. We would love nothing more than to bring a championship back to the Bay Area."