Getty Images

Three months ago, the Raiders came in third in a three-team race to Los Angeles. They may end up winning a one-team quest for Las Vegas.

Vincent Bonsignore of the L.A. Daily News reports via Twitter that a “huge week” is coming for the effort to build a stadium in Las Vegas where the Raiders would play. As Bonsignore points out, the next big step is approval of the funding mechanism for a Vegas venue.

It’s apparently a “huge week” because, as noted by the Twitter page of the Las Vegas Sands (the casino that is pushing to build the stadium), Raiders owner Mark Davis will attend the second meeting of the Southern Nevada Tourism Infrastructure Committee. It’s set for Thursday, April 28, at 8:00 a.m. local time.

Apart from obtaining funding approval, the Raiders will need league approval, with at least 23 other teams signing off on the decision to allow the move to the city that is synonymous with gambling. Not long ago, the NFL refused to even consider the possibility of staging a preseason game in Las Vegas. Now, the mood has changed, dramatically.

While some owners will indeed oppose allowing the NFL’s brand of pigskin to do business in Sin City, the reality is that as eight can scream, “No God, no God, please no, no, no, nooooo!” from the tops of their lungs, and it won’t matter if the other 24 whisper, “Yes.”

It also may not matter if more than eight teams vote against the move. Davis could try to move the team in defiance of league rules, arguing that any attempt to prevent him from moving the team wherever he chooses amounts to a violation of federal antitrust laws.

However it plays out, it may soon be time to get used to the sound of Las Vegas Raiders.