Jarrett Bell

USA TODAY Sports

Officially, there’s no timeline for the Oakland Raiders to pack up the moving vans and head to Las Vegas.

In reality, it is a potential deal seemingly on such a fast track that it might set some sort of NFL record.

At the NFL meetings in Charlotte this week, Raiders owner Mark Davis reiterated what he declared in Vegas a few weeks ago. And he didn’t stutter.

“If they can get done what they’re talking about doing,” Davis said, referring to plans pursued by Nevada officials for a $1.4 billion domed stadium, “then we will go to Las Vegas.”

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That was an NFL version of “Read My Lips.”

His father, the late and legendary maverick, Al Davis, would be so proud.

Six months ago, the Raiders were in the running with the San Diego Chargers and then-St. Louis Rams to lay claim to the fabulous Los Angeles market. Well, sort of.

The Raiders looked a lot like the third wheel in the LA equation, joining forces on a project for a stadium in Carson, Calif., that was led by the Chargers. That bid was blown away by Rams owner Stan Kroenke’s plan for a palace in Inglewood, which just this week added the expected Super Bowl berth for 2021.

Yet even when the Raiders – who, technically, could still end up in LA – were in the mix in Carson there were so many whispers in the NFL community that it was the franchise that the league least wanted in the nation’s second-largest market.

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Davis hardly has the financial portfolio of the multi-billionaire Kroenke, who is building his new stadium (and adjacent real estate development) without a drop of public money and is so well-positioned to, well, not blow the NFL’s re-entry into La La Land.

It’s striking, though, to consider how Davis has come out of the LA competition.

Surely, the public persona is such a contrast. Davis seemed like such a passive player in the LA stakes, compared to Kroenke and Chargers owner Dean Spanos. Now he seems so buff.

When he talks about market research studies and about uniting “Raider Nation” – suggesting that Northern California fans and Southern California fans can agree on Vegas – it reflects a bold, aggressive mindset.

I mean, the Raiders, with an emerging team, have set a franchise record with 50,000 season tickets sold for this season – for playing at the Oakland Coliseum – and for all of the ifs over the years, are suddenly poised to really bolt.

Perhaps the approach to Las Vegas reflects a lesson learned from Los Angeles, because Davis is reflecting the verve of a man who will not let this new opportunity slip away.

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No doubt, Davis can control only so much. He’s pledged $500 million toward a domed stadium (including $200 million from an NFL loan), with Sands Corporation CEO Sheldon Adelson and Majestic Realty to pony up $150 million. More than half of the projected stadium cost, $750 million, would come from a hotel tax, if approved by lawmakers.

Talk about a fast track. It’s possible that the Nevada State Legislature, not scheduled to meet again until 2017, could call for a special session this summer to consider the matter.

Davis, who inherited the ownership role after his father passed in 2011, has flirted with other cities, most notably San Antonio. But with no viable plan to stay in cash-strapped Oakland, and a one-year lease at the Oakland Coliseum (with two one-year options), he needed the type of deal that historically catches the NFL’s eye – heavy public financing.

The 54% public share proposed in the Vegas project would be the highest slice for an NFL stadium since Indianapolis built Lucas Oil Stadium with public dollars accounting for 88%.

That wouldn’t work in all markets (see Oakland, Los Angeles, San Diego), but in tourism hotbed Las Vegas – which as it stands now, would be the NFL’s fifth-smallest market – it probably works, with the hotel tax essentially footed by guests.

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Las Vegas attracted more than 42 million visitors last year, with 16% of them coming from international destinations – which surely plays into the NFL’s visions for growing a global fans base.

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That hardly seems like a deal-breaker to NFL owners. Davis contended that while the Raiders weren’t on the agenda for the meetings on Tuesday, he didn’t receive any feedback from any other owners expressing opposition to Las Vegas.

Of the half-dozen owners I’ve surveyed on the matter, all have indicated that they would support a Raiders move to Las Vegas if a deal were not struck to keep franchise in Oakland. That coincides with New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft’s contention to USA TODAY Sports that there has been an evolution in the league to view the risks to the gambling industry in Las Vegas to be no greater than other places.

After all, the NFL stages games in London, which also has bustling casinos.

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“I’m thinking like a fan,” Kraft told USA TODAY Sports. “Traveling to Vegas for visiting fans to see their team play would be fun. That part would be good. And thinking about Vegas and the rotation of Super Bowls. They have the infrastructure for big events.”

A Vegas Super Bowl? Hmmm.

There are more than 100,000 hotel rooms within 15 minutes of the airport, and it’s pretty much tradition in the NFL to reward cities with new stadiums with Super Bowls. Atlanta and Los Angeles were the beneficiaries of that trend when owners voted Tuesday for Super Bowl sites in 2019-21, while Miami also landed the event in part thanks to stadium improvements.

But first things first. There’s a hearing on Thursday before the Southern Nevada Tourism Infrastructure Committee – the entity that Davis recently pledged his willingness to move to Las Vegas – where the agenda will include reports about how a proposed stadium could impact aviation and how the public cost compares to those of other NFL stadiums.

If the Chargers strike a deal to stay in San Diego, which could hinge on a taxpayer vote, the Raiders could theoretically opt in as the second team in Los Angeles. But Davis has declared that the San Diego situation, and its link to LA, has no bearing on his designs for Las Vegas.

He can’t wait on those dominoes to fall. Not with Davis aggressively playing his chips on Vegas.

Follow Jarrett Bell on Twitter @JarrettBell.