Although the Raiders have moved operations to Las Vegas beginning with the 2020 season, owner Mark Davis still holds the franchise's training camp site in Napa near and dear to his heart.
The team has moved this year's training camp to the new facilities in Henderson, Nevada in light of the coronavirus pandemic, although original plans were to return to Wine Country this summer. Davis told The Athletic's Vic Tafur that he would like to see the tradition continued, even as the Raiders now play their home games over a nine-hour drive away from Napa.
“I would like to continue to do it there,” Davis said. “It is one of the most beautiful places in the world and gives us ties back to our Northern California roots. Southern California is another possibility, but I just think there is nothing better than Napa.”
Stay in the game with the latest updates on your beloved Bay Area and California sports teams! Sign up here for our All Access Daily newsletter.
[RAIDERS TALK: Listen to the latest episode]
The team has held training camp in Sonoma County the past quarter-century, with players and team personnel staying at the Napa Valley Marriott and practicing on an adjacent field.
Las Vegas is a particularly brutal place in the summertime, as temperatures regularly surpass 100 degrees with an extremely arid climate. Napa, meanwhile, is warm but doesn't go past triple digits with as much regularity.
[RELATED: Raiders sign Ruggs, Arnette, five other picks to contracts]
For Raiders fans in Northern California who stuck with the team after the move to Sin City, this would be an exciting development.
Plus, would Henderson be able to offer iconic training camp moments, like when former Raiders wideout Antonio Brown rode a hot-air balloon into practice last summer.
Probably not.