Casino operator Las Vegas Sands wants to build a $1b stadium in Las Vegas and they want the Oakland Raiders to call it home.

On Thursday, Sands senior VP Andy Abboud confirmed that the company was spearheading a group of investors looking to build a 65k-seat domed stadium near the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. The complex would host the UNLV football team and possibly an NFL franchise.

The Las Vegas Review-Journal quoted Abboud saying Sands and/or the family of its owner, Sheldon Adelson, would contribute a significant portion of the funding for the public-private partnership. Abboud said Sands would present a formal plan sometime over the next two months to the branch of local government tasked with identifying ways to drive tourism.

On Friday, Raiders owner Mark Davis is scheduled to meet with Adelson and to scout out the 42-acre plot on which Adelson wants to build his stadium. The Raiders were in the running to move to Los Angeles (for the second time) but lost out to the St. Louis Rams (another L.A. fugitive) earlier this month.

The last time Peyton Manning made it this far, he was the driving force behind the most prolific offense in NFL history. That’s not going to be the case in Super Bowl 50 when he lines up against the Carolina Panthers. Make no mistake – the reason that the Super Bowl 50 betting line favors the Carolina Panthers so strongly is because of Peyton Manning’s inability to be the same player that’s racked up so many wins and records.

The Panthers and Broncos ranked 6th and 4th respectively in points allowed during the 2015 campaign. Both have surpassed their regular season standards in the playoffs. Each team ranks 1st and 2nd in points allowed during the playoffs. Carolina’s given up just 19.5 points against in two games, while Denver has allowed 17.0 points on average against Pittsburgh and New England.

We could wax poetic about the differences between the defenses, but the fourth and long of it is that they’re both brilliant.

The bigger concern is the offensive disparity between the two teams. Denver ranked 19th in points gained with just 22.2 on average, while Carolina led the league in this category with a mind shattering 31.2 points per game.

The last time Peyton Manning made it this far, he was the driving force behind the most prolific offense in NFL history. That’s not going to be the case in Super Bowl 50 when he lines up against the Carolina Panthers. Make no mistake – the reason that the Super Bowl 50 betting line favors the Carolina Panthers so strongly is because of Peyton Manning’s inability to be the same player that’s racked up so many wins and records.

The Panthers and Broncos ranked 6th and 4th respectively in points allowed during the 2015 campaign. Both have surpassed their regular season standards in the playoffs. Each team ranks 1st and 2nd in points allowed during the playoffs. Carolina’s given up just 19.5 points against in two games, while Denver has allowed 17.0 points on average against Pittsburgh and New England.

We could wax poetic about the differences between the defenses, but the fourth and long of it is that they’re both brilliant.

The bigger concern is the offensive disparity between the two teams. Denver ranked 19th in points gained with just 22.2 on average, while Carolina led the league in this category with a mind shattering 31.2 points per game.

As much as I’ve touted Bruce Arians over the course of the season, there’s no doubt that Carolina’s Ron Rivera is destined to be awarded the AP NFL Coach of the Year for what he’s accomplished thus far. It’s a well deserved accolade for the man behind the top scoring offense in the league, and one of its most fearsome defenses. Would you believe that it would be the second time Ron Rivera’s been honored with this award?

I talked to a lot of people who both write about football and love the game as much as I do to see what they thought of Ron Rivera. The consensus was simple: not much. For a coach as accomplished as Rivera, he leaves a strangely small footprint on the mainstream consciousness.

In the Internet era, almost every coach as successful as Rivera has some sort of defining quality. Arians is a football genius. Belichik is stone cold with the media. Even a guy like Jim Caldwell is known for his dumb face.

There’s no such hot take on Riverboat Ron Rivera. Why not?

As much as I’ve touted Bruce Arians over the course of the season, there’s no doubt that Carolina’s Ron Rivera is destined to be awarded the AP NFL Coach of the Year for what he’s accomplished thus far. It’s a well deserved accolade for the man behind the top scoring offense in the league, and one of its most fearsome defenses. Would you believe that it would be the second time Ron Rivera’s been honored with this award?

I talked to a lot of people who both write about football and love the game as much as I do to see what they thought of Ron Rivera. The consensus was simple: not much. For a coach as accomplished as Rivera, he leaves a strangely small footprint on the mainstream consciousness.

In the Internet era, almost every coach as successful as Rivera has some sort of defining quality. Arians is a football genius. Belichik is stone cold with the media. Even a guy like Jim Caldwell is known for his dumb face.

There’s no such hot take on Riverboat Ron Rivera. Why not?

One of the best coaching hires of the NFL offseason happened right under everyone’s noses. It wasn’t Chip Kelly in San Francisco, or Hue Jackson defecting to Cleveland. The best one was actually a re-hire, and it had nothing to do with filling a suddenly vacant head coaching position.

One of the sneakiest moves was San Diego re-hiring Ken Whisenhunt to be their offensive coordinator.

I know what you’re probably saying or thinking. But there’s a difference between hiring Whisenhunt to be a head coach to run your entire show as opposed to enlisting him as a guy who has a specific duty. As the main man, Whisenhunt is a gong show. In his last two seasons with a bad Titans team, he went a dismal 3-20 and was fired by the team halfway through last year.

But as an offensive coordinator, the guy is a genius and he’s proved that everywhere he’s gone as the signal caller on just one side of the ball. Look at the evidence:

One of the best coaching hires of the NFL offseason happened right under everyone’s noses. It wasn’t Chip Kelly in San Francisco, or Hue Jackson defecting to Cleveland. The best one was actually a re-hire, and it had nothing to do with filling a suddenly vacant head coaching position.

One of the sneakiest moves was San Diego re-hiring Ken Whisenhunt to be their offensive coordinator.

I know what you’re probably saying or thinking. But there’s a difference between hiring Whisenhunt to be a head coach to run your entire show as opposed to enlisting him as a guy who has a specific duty. As the main man, Whisenhunt is a gong show. In his last two seasons with a bad Titans team, he went a dismal 3-20 and was fired by the team halfway through last year.

But as an offensive coordinator, the guy is a genius and he’s proved that everywhere he’s gone as the signal caller on just one side of the ball. Look at the evidence:

Winners 5 of their final 7 games of the season, the Denver Broncos are back to being 100 percent healthy which is bad news for the Pittsburgh Steelers as they beat the Broncos on December 20th 34 to 27 when Denver had to rely on their backup helmsman because Peyton Manning was on the mend from a few injuries that he sustained over the last 6 weeks of the regular season.

NFL Betting Odds

Pittsburgh Steelers               +7

Denver Broncos                   -7

Winners 5 of their final 7 games of the season, the Denver Broncos are back to being 100 percent healthy which is bad news for the Pittsburgh Steelers as they beat the Broncos on December 20th 34 to 27 when Denver had to rely on their backup helmsman because Peyton Manning was on the mend from a few injuries that he sustained over the last 6 weeks of the regular season.

NFL Betting Odds

Pittsburgh Steelers               +7

Denver Broncos                   -7

The Los Angeles Rams are back. The league voted almost unanimously to return the NFL to the second largest market in the country in immediate fashion. The Rams will be back in southern California for the 2016 season thanks to the painstaking efforts of owner Stan Kroenke.

To many, this is a correction that was two decades in the making. What you might know is that this move has been in the works for a long time. What you might not know is that the league never wanted the Rams to leave Los Angeles in the first place.

In order to understand the whole picture of this sordid tale of quibbling billionaires, you have to take a little trip through history.

Kroenke, a sports business entrepreneur, has been a major stakeholder in the team since their move to St. Louis in 1995. Back then, he had a 40-percent hold in the company. The rest of it belonged to a woman named Georgia Frontiere.

The Los Angeles Rams are back. The league voted almost unanimously to return the NFL to the second largest market in the country in immediate fashion. The Rams will be back in southern California for the 2016 season thanks to the painstaking efforts of owner Stan Kroenke.

To many, this is a correction that was two decades in the making. What you might know is that this move has been in the works for a long time. What you might not know is that the league never wanted the Rams to leave Los Angeles in the first place.

In order to understand the whole picture of this sordid tale of quibbling billionaires, you have to take a little trip through history.

Kroenke, a sports business entrepreneur, has been a major stakeholder in the team since their move to St. Louis in 1995. Back then, he had a 40-percent hold in the company. The rest of it belonged to a woman named Georgia Frontiere.

After 21 years of waiting for a National Football League (NFL) franchise, used-to-be St Louis Rams is returning home to Los Angeles.

There is no questioning that the National Football League is going to have a franchise based in L.A., as NFL is not the type of entity to let an opportunity to increase its profits and brand awareness slip on the edge. But the real question is, which NFL team ends the NFL’s 21-year absence from the second-largest media market in the US?

NFL owners voted 30-2 Tuesday night to allow the St. Louis Rams to move LA and build a stadium in Inglewood, California. The San Diego Chargers was given a one-year option to share the facility while the Oakland Raiders, who also wanted to move to the area, could move to LA if San Diego doesn’t.

“Relocation is a painful process. It’s painful for the fans, for the communities, for the league in general,” said NFL commissioner Roger Goodell. “In some ways a bittersweet moment, because we were unable to get the kind of facilities done we wanted in their markets.”

After 21 years of waiting for a National Football League (NFL) franchise, used-to-be St Louis Rams is returning home to Los Angeles.

There is no questioning that the National Football League is going to have a franchise based in L.A., as NFL is not the type of entity to let an opportunity to increase its profits and brand awareness slip on the edge. But the real question is, which NFL team ends the NFL’s 21-year absence from the second-largest media market in the US?

NFL owners voted 30-2 Tuesday night to allow the St. Louis Rams to move LA and build a stadium in Inglewood, California. The San Diego Chargers was given a one-year option to share the facility while the Oakland Raiders, who also wanted to move to the area, could move to LA if San Diego doesn’t.

“Relocation is a painful process. It’s painful for the fans, for the communities, for the league in general,” said NFL commissioner Roger Goodell. “In some ways a bittersweet moment, because we were unable to get the kind of facilities done we wanted in their markets.”

Both the Cincinnati Bengals and the Pittsburgh Steelers are dealing with key injuries coming into this playoff game. Since the Bengal starting quarterback Andy Dalton has been sidelined due to injury, his backup A.J. McCarron has a winning record of 2 and 1 completing 66 percent (76 of 115) of his passes for 832 yards, six touchdowns, and two interceptions. Facing the Steelers, he completed 22 of 33 passes for 280 yards, 2 TDs and 2 picks. If Pittsburgh running back DeAngelo Williams can’t return due to injury than that will make the Steelers a one-demission offense.

NFL Betting Odds

Pittsburgh Steelers

-3

There’s a billion ways you could look at each of the wild card games. Unlike the regular season, where you can have up to 16 games and 32 teams to keep track of, the focus narrows in the playoffs. Duh.

With that tunnel vision comes some over compensation. We commit a little too hard to things that don’t matter. Suddenly, the expansive interest we have gets spotlighted on to just four games and that can drive us…well…crazy. It doesn’t help that 12 less games in a weekend is 12 fewer investment opportunities.

So let’s clear the noise a bit and dial in on the important elements of each matchup and really, the choice is always up to you. But you’ll see where my money’s probably leaning by the time you’re done reading through. Enjoy and good luck.

KANSAS CITY CHIEFS -3.0 at HOUSTON TEXANS

There’s a billion ways you could look at each of the wild card games. Unlike the regular season, where you can have up to 16 games and 32 teams to keep track of, the focus narrows in the playoffs. Duh.

With that tunnel vision comes some over compensation. We commit a little too hard to things that don’t matter. Suddenly, the expansive interest we have gets spotlighted on to just four games and that can drive us…well…crazy. It doesn’t help that 12 less games in a weekend is 12 fewer investment opportunities.

So let’s clear the noise a bit and dial in on the important elements of each matchup and really, the choice is always up to you. But you’ll see where my money’s probably leaning by the time you’re done reading through. Enjoy and good luck.

KANSAS CITY CHIEFS -3.0 at HOUSTON TEXANS

One of the most interesting subplots of wild card weekend is the monetary value that Kirk Cousins is going to extract from Washington this offseason. He’s defiantly led the Redskins in to the playoffs amidst a crumbling division, and made his team look like a legitimate threat to send the Green Bay Packers home early. So how much money do you think he’ll get for his efforts, win or lose?

The answer: $100 million. Give or take. And I’m not even kidding.

Andy Dalton signed a similar contract worth $96 million over 6 years just last season. Dalton will earn an average salary of $16 million, and has already banked a $12 million signing bonus along with $17 million guaranteed. Whether people believe in him or not, Cincinnati dedicated themselves to his skillset for the long term.

Cincinnati also crafted the contract with their own flexibility in mind. They can essentially dump him after next year without taking a massive hit in what’s called “dead cap space”. This the portion of their salary cap that equates to a sunk cost; one that the team can’t avoid even if the player isn’t on their roster anymore.

One of the most interesting subplots of wild card weekend is the monetary value that Kirk Cousins is going to extract from Washington this offseason. He’s defiantly led the Redskins in to the playoffs amidst a crumbling division, and made his team look like a legitimate threat to send the Green Bay Packers home early. So how much money do you think he’ll get for his efforts, win or lose?

The answer: $100 million. Give or take. And I’m not even kidding.

Andy Dalton signed a similar contract worth $96 million over 6 years just last season. Dalton will earn an average salary of $16 million, and has already banked a $12 million signing bonus along with $17 million guaranteed. Whether people believe in him or not, Cincinnati dedicated themselves to his skillset for the long term.

Cincinnati also crafted the contract with their own flexibility in mind. They can essentially dump him after next year without taking a massive hit in what’s called “dead cap space”. This the portion of their salary cap that equates to a sunk cost; one that the team can’t avoid even if the player isn’t on their roster anymore.