Arthur Blank, Falcons Owner, Comments on Potential NFL Team in Las Vegas

Atlanta Falcons owner Arthur Blank is the latest football personality to comment on the possibility of Las Vegas receiving an NFL team.

While Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones stated that he is in favor of the city getting a team Wednesday, per Clarence Hill of the Star-Telegram, Blank was on the fence when speaking with reporters Friday, per Vaughn McClure of ESPN.com:

"

I think whether or not there are enough people in Las Vegas to support a team is a question. I haven't seen the data on that to support it or not support it. It's certainly a dynamic market. It's a growth market. It's got tremendous tourism, a lot of convention business. So it's certainly a consideration. We'll see what the facts bear.

I want to see all the research on whether [Las Vegas] can support a franchise or not. It's no different than any other city we look at.

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There is also the concern of gambling, which made the league shoo away the idea of football in Las Vegas in 2013, according to Alan Snellas of the Las Vegas Review-Journal.

Blank pointed out that gambling opportunities exist in "any market" and summarized what could be done for a team in that area: "I think, obviously, we'd have to build a wall around the football operations and the franchise itself, which I think they can do effectively."

Oakland Raiders owner Mark Davis, who is in search of a new stadium, has made it clear that he is willing to move his team to the city if the league and owners agree to it. Per McClure, 24 of 32 league owners would have to approve the move, though.

While his team will play at the rundown O.co Coliseum this season, Davis admitted to Sam Farmer of the Los Angeles Times in March that he has not made any progress toward securing a new stadium in the city.

"There's nothing new in Oakland," he said. "It just doesn't seem like there's going to be anything."

Los Angeles, the new home of the Rams, remains an option, but it depends on whether the San Diego Chargers act on a one-year option, per Farmer. If they don't, the Raiders would have a chance, though Davis said he has to see what the Rams do with their new stadium. 

"I don't know how much development they're putting on there," Davis told Farmer. "I've said for the Raiders the most important thing is ingress, egress and parking, and I don't know whether they're going to create that there."

On April 28, Davis pledged $500 million to a $1.4 billion stadium that would be constructed in Las Vegas, per Tim Dahlberg of the Associated Press, and stated the city "will" provide the Raiders with a home and that it's not being used "as a bargaining chip."

If that's the case, Blank and the other league owners will have to start doing their research as to what Las Vegas can provide to the league and whether it will be a good fit.