CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Oakland Raiders owner Mark Davis and multiple owners surveyed Monday night and Tuesday at the NFL's spring meetings seemed to agree that a great deal of work needed to be done before the league could consider moving a team to Las Vegas. Davis is optimistic but has yet to approach his fellow owners about the possibility in any formal way, and while a longstanding aversion to the gambling element obviously present in Nevada no longer seems to be the obstacle it used to be, there is a lot of mystery about the viability of Las Vegas as a pro sports market.

"The gambling is one thing, but I'm more curious to find out whether the market is deep enough to support a team," New York Giants owner John Mara said. "Those are things that have to be figured out before it can be seriously considered."

Owners would want to know what the stadium proposal looks like, would want to see projections for ticket sales, seat licenses, luxury suites, etc. All of these are things that haven't even been studied yet in a market that has no professional sports team.

"I think what everybody would want to know is, would this be a great NFL market?" Philadelphia Eagles owner Jeff Lurie said. "We have to find out whether it's a viable market, but I'd like it to be a great NFL market if we're going to consider putting a team there."

All of which Davis understands.

"That's why we're doing studies on that now to determine whether it's viable," Davis said. "We're not looking to make this something where the fans fly in on weekends for games. For the first year, it would probably be like that, but we want to have a local fan base. That's important to us."

Davis has had conversations with the Southern Nevada Tourism Infrastructure Committee about a $1.4 billion stadium project that would include $500 million from the Raiders. He has so far been unable to secure a new stadium in Oakland, and he said he's not focused on the possibility of joining the Rams in Los Angeles, which would be his option if the San Diego Chargers choose not to do that.

"That doesn't have anything to do with where my train of thought is right now," Davis said. "If Las Vegas comes through, we're going to Las Vegas."

That's a big "if" on its own, and even if it does come through, Davis still has to convince 24 of 32 NFL owners to vote to relocate to a place that has never had a team and was once thought of as off-limits due to the gambling and nightlife elements there. SInce he has so far to go, Davis says he has no timetable for a move.

"We have a one-year lease in Oakland and we have two one-year options," Davis said. "We want to do it right, so there's no real rush."

The point here is that the Raiders have to play somewhere. And if Oakland can't keep them and L.A. is closed to them, Las Vegas starts to seem like an enticing option.

"It's a new market, and it's got the potential to be a really exciting market," Davis said. "The Raider fans in Northern California get a little bit upset when we talk about Los Angeles, and the L.A. Raider fans get a little ticked off at the fans in Northern California. So it seems like Las Vegas is a neutral site that everybody's kind of bought into and it could unite the Raider nation."

All sounds great. As long as Davis can convince his fellow owners they can all make a bunch of money together in Sin City.