The Raiders have officially begun packing for Las Vegas. Hey, we’ve all been there, but this trip looks like it may be permanent. And while it’s not yet time for Oakland residents to begin gnashing of teeth and rending of garments (the owners have yet to vote on it), this potential move is looking more and more inevitable by the day.
Mark Davis will officially file relocation papers this week, which was first reported by NFL Media’s Ian Rapoport. The Raiders’ owner isn’t currently talking with anyone regarding keeping the team in Oakland, and seems intent on going ahead with a plan in place to build a new stadium off the strip in Las Vegas.
But we’ve known for quite some time that Davis is hooked on Sin City. Are more interesting development to me is that the Raiders could be … rebranding.
Now before you begin choosing a suitable hatchet to mangle your laptop and/or phone, let me say that I’ve really only seen this mentioned in a couple of places, one being Will Reeve Jr.’s RaidersWire feature at USA Today. Here’s the line that caught my eye:
The team re-branding itself by way of a new name and logo is still within the realm of possibility as well.
Whoa. Could the Raiders no longer be the Raiders? It’s the “new name” portion of that sentence that would make America shit — that logo and name are about as iconic as it gets. I sure wouldn’t want those costumed crazies from the Black Hole wandering the streets with nothing to do.
I personally don’t think that Davis would ever change the team’s name and colors — his dead father would haunt him relentlessly. Instead of sending three ghosts on Christmas Eve, he’d send one on the eve of every holiday and observance. (“I am the ghost of Take Your Daughters to Work Day! Look upon me and be sore afraid!”).
Besides, the Raiders’ outlaw persona is perfect for Vegas — they’d be fools to change it.
But changing the logo would certainly be in the ballpark — maybe something along the lines of what Tampa Bay did. Or, this:
This concept below was worked up by graphic designer John Raya, and I kind of like it. The Raiders’ helmet logo has always looked like Jon Hamm posed for it — and while he’s a fine actor, I don’t see him as a pirate.
