BOCA RATON, Fla. – Mark Davis was holding court in the lobby of the Boca Raton resort and club on Monday, just as the NFL owners meetings were getting started.

The Oakland Raiders' owner, who finished third in a three-team race for Los Angeles behind the St. Louis Rams and San Diego Chargers in January, was asked if there were lingering bad feelings from that vote.

He said there were none.

“The good news is we came in third place,” Davis said. “The bad news is it was a three-horse race. You don’t get a bronze medal for that.

“But you get your butt kicked, you get off the ground, wipe yourself off and you move forward. That’s what you have to do in life. And you learn that in this business. Every Sunday is a different thing. You win some and you lose some.”

Yes, the Raiders have an agreement in place for a one-year lease to remain at Oakland’s O.co Coliseum with two one-year options. But nothing about their futire is settled.

Los Angeles still beckons, as does Las Vegas, while San Diego and San Antonio remain blips on the Silver and Black radar screen.

Davis was asked about the viability of replacing the Rams in the Midwest.

He shrugged in a negative fashion.

“The Raider brand is a different brand, I believe,” Davis said, “and I just don’t believe St. Louis would maximize it.”

In terms of?

“Just everything,” he said.

Might Las Vegas, then, maximize the Raider brand?

“I think the Raiders would maximize Las Vegas,” Davis said with a laugh.

And, we’re off…

Yes, the Raiders have that one-year lease to play at the Coliseum this season, with two one-year options, and they have already started selling tickets. But according to team officials, they are waiting on Oakland city and Alameda county officials to finalize the lease, which was agreed to in principle on Feb. 11.

The Joint Powers Authority, which manages the Coliseum complex, is scheduled to meet Friday to approve the lease, after which it will be sent to the city and county for approval over the next few weeks, per a JPA spokesman.

As such, Davis has continued to look at Las Vegas as a potential new home for his team in the near future as the Sands Corp. has announced it support to build a $1 billion domed stadium on a vacant 42 acres of land owned by UNLV near the corner of Tropicana Avenue and Koval Lane across from McCarran International Airport.

UNLV’s football team has played at 35,500-seat Sam Boyd Stadium, some nine miles east from the campus, since 1971.

Davis recently met with Nevada Gov. Brian Sandoval to discuss the viability of a Las Vegas stadium.

While waiting for Oakland city and Alameda county entities to finalize the Raiders'... https://t.co/L5ViA4LNbD pic.twitter.com/VrDJditH9j — Paul Gutierrez (@PGutierrezESPN) March 21, 2016

At No. 41 nationally, Las Vegas is a relatively small media market but is bigger than four current NFL markets in Jacksonville (No. 48), New Orleans (No. 51), Buffalo (No. 52) and Green Bay (No. 68), per last year’s Nielsen data.

The Raiders, though, are in a holding pattern regarding LA, as the Chargers have the first option to join the Rams in Inglewood, but if they stay in San Diego, the Raiders would have a year to move in with the Rams.

“We’ve been basically locked out of Los Angeles, or Southern California until the Chargers make a decision,” Davis said. “So we’re staying away from that and giving Dean [Spanos] his opportunity to make the decision that he wants to make for his team.

“Once he makes a decision, that will determine what Southern California city might be available to us.”

Then might San Diego interest Davis?

“It could be a possibility for us,” Davis said. “I think it’s a great city, absolutely a great city.”

Still, Davis’ long-stated goal is to remain in Oakland with a new football-only stadium on the current Coliseum site as the Raiders are the only NFL team to still share a stadium with a Major League Baseball team.

Davis essentially challenged the A’s to help them concurrently build two stadiums on the current Coliseum site.

He was asked, in his heart of hearts, if he believed the Raiders would get a stadium deal done in Oakland.

“I don’t know,” Davis said. “I don’t want to say in the heart of hearts, because you never know, and you can’t make those statements. But it just doesn’t seem like there’s going to be anything. There’s really no place for us to build the stadium right now, that’s the biggest problem up there.

“The A’s are in the stadium. They’ve got a 10-year lease. The city doesn’t seem to want to make anything happen in that respect. I asked the A’s basically through a press conference, 'Help us make a decision.’ Just try and do something, but they haven’t done it.”