There has been no progress in recent weeks between the Raiders and the City of Oakland on stadium talks, multiple NFL and city sources tell Vic Tafur of the San Francisco Chronicle. According to Tafur, Raiders owner Mark Davis has been ramping up his efforts to find a new stadium in another city, and he appears to have the NFL’s support in that endeavor, per Tafur’s sources.
The Raiders’ lease at the O.co Coliseum in Oakland expires at the end of the 2014 season, so it’s possible Davis could at some point attempt to come to a one-year extension agreement to by more time, but so far he hasn’t asked for that extension. And Tafur says the Raiders owner isn’t currently planning to ask for one. With the team’s long-term future in Oakland currently up in the air, here are a few more notes on the Raiders and potential possibilities for franchise:
- San Antonio city officials “quietly and feverishly” prepared for Davis’ visit to Texas last month, making a “much more concerted effort” than had been previously reported to sell the Raiders on the city, according to Josh Baugh and Tom Orsborn of the San Antonio Express-News. While a move to San Antonio is still viewed as a long shot – as reports by both the Express-News and the Chronicle indicate – a source discounted to Baugh and Orsborn the recent comments made by Spurs shareholder Charlie Amato, who suggested Spurs ownership would require controlling interest in any NFL team in the city.
- That same source to the Express-News: “[Spurs majority owner] Peter [Holt] assured Mark that [the Spurs] would not be a roadblock to the Raiders relocating to San Antonio and would find ways to work with them.”
- For his part, Davis indicated to Tafur that Oakland remains his first priority despite a productive visit to San Antonio: “It was a serious conversation. I don’t waste my time just having meetings. But we continue to try to get something done in Oakland.”
- While San Antonio is one potential alternative for the Raiders, Los Angeles would be the more popular choice among fans. As Paul Gutierrez of ESPN.com details, former Lakers star Magic Johnson, who owns a piece of MLB’s Dodgers, thinks L.A. is the most viable choice for the Raiders and hopes to see the franchise return to the city “in the next two years.”
- Although Johnson’s timeline may be overly optimistic, it’s worth noting, as Jason Cole of Bleacher Report tweets, that Dodgers ownership has a plan for a football-only stadium beyond center field at Dodger Stadium