LAS VEGAS — First the NHL’s Vegas Golden Knights. Soon, maybe, the Las Vegas Raiders.

Once looked on with disdain by major sports leagues, this gambling city is now just 24 votes away from cashing in on one of the biggest sports jackpots ever.

The Raiders made it official Thursday by filing for relocation from Oakland to Las Vegas, the culmination of a whirlwind romance to bring an NFL team to a city the league had previously gone out of its way to shun because of sports betting fears.

League owners are expected to vote on the move in March, and it’s hard to find anyone betting it won’t happen.

“I don’t know how you can put a price on this,” said Steve Sisolak, a county commissioner who has been involved in the efforts to land the team. “There are only 32 cities that can say they have an NFL team and we will be one of them.”

Actually, there is a price on it. Tourists will pay increased room taxes to fund $750 million of the cost of a new $1.9 billion stadium as part of a deal rammed through a special session of the Nevada Legislature by powerful casino owner Sheldon Adelson’s family.

The stadium will be just off the glittering Las Vegas Strip, where the Golden Knights will begin play this fall in a new arena of their own. The expansion hockey team is the first major sports franchise to call the city home.

If approved, the move would be the third announced by an NFL team in a year as the league undergoes a geographic shift unlike any in recent history. The Rams returned to Los Angeles from St. Louis this season, while the San Diego Chargers will begin play in Los Angeles next season.

BROWNS: Cleveland is close to a contract agreement with linebacker Jamie Collins. The sides have been in talks for several days and were nearing a deal on Thursday night.

The Browns acquired Collins in a midseason trade with the New England Patriots, giving up a third-round pick for the former Pro Bowler.

49ERS: Kyle Shanahan plans to talk again with the San Francisco 49ers about their head coaching vacancy, with all signs pointing to the Atlanta Falcons’ offensive coordinator landing the job.

Shanahan is the only apparent candidate for the last available head coaching position in the NFL.

ADRIAN PETERSON suggested he believes he still deserves to earn $18 million this upcoming season and named three teams he would have interest in playing for in 2017 – the Buccaneers, Giants and Texans.

RAMS: A week after 30-year-old head coach Sean McVay said the 69-year-old Wade Phillips would be joining him as the team’s new defensive coordinator, their partnership finally was made official.

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