LAS VEGAS — One year ago, the NFL Draft represented an oasis to bettors thirsty for something other than Belarussian table tennis or Nicaraguan soccer for action.
More than a month into a pandemic that nearly halted all sports on the planet and would shutter the city’s hotels and casinos for 11 weeks, unprecedented attention engulfed that virtual draft.
The physical draft, and the thousands of visitors and millions of dollars it generates annually to fortunate hosts, had been scheduled for Vegas, where the Raiders’ landing in a shiny new dome was to be feted in grand fashion.