Mayor Sees Hope in Raiders Failure to Move to Los Angeles

Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf said today that she’s ready to work out a deal to get a new stadium built for the Oakland Raiders, but hasn’t resumed any talks with team owner Mark Davis after he failed Tuesday to get NFL approval for a move to the Los Angeles area.

“Mark Davis has been a wonderful partner,” Schaaf said. “I’m just going to give him a moment because last night did not go the way he wanted.”

Davis, who took over ownership of the team in 2011 when his father, Al Davis, died, did not even mention Oakland in a news conference after he withdrew his bid to move to Southern California. NFL owners voted to move ahead with a plan to move the St. Louis Rams and possibly the San Diego Chargers to Los Angeles instead.

“This is not a win for the Raiders today,” Davis said. “We’ll see where the Raider Nation ends up here. We’ll be working really hard to find us a home. That’s what we’re looking for.”

Oakland did not submit a proposal to the league to keep the Raiders in town prior to Tuesday’s owners meeting, simply providing a broad outline for a new stadium on the O.co Coliseum site. The Raiders have sought public funding for a new stadium but Schaaf has consistently refused, offering only $90 million for infrastructure improvements. The Raiders did get some more money out of Tuesday’s meeting, up to $100 million from the league to assist in the construction of a new stadium in Oakland.

Complicating a potential Raiders facility there is the shared tenancy at the Coliseum with the Oakland A’s, the professional baseball team that has also sought to leave Oakland in recent years but has been spurned. Constructing a stadium for both while the teams continued playing would be logistically difficult and one team getting a stadium deal going could potentially displace the other tenant. Schaaf said today she remains confident there is a solution at the Coliseum site, but that her preference for the A’s is to build a “downtown urban walkable ballpark.”

The A’s issued a statement after the Raiders decision was reached Tuesday, saying the team’s plans are unaffected by developments with the Raiders.

“The Oakland A’s will continue to explore our options with the city of Oakland and the county of Alameda on a new venue,” A’s owner Lew Wolff said. “This announcement by the NFL regarding the Raiders does not change our immediate plans or our goal of securing a new baseball-only facility.”

The Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum Authority, the governing body for the Coliseum run by city and county representatives, called the end to the Los Angeles plan an “opportunity” in a statement and called on the Raiders to collaborate.

“Today is a new day for the future of the Raiders in Oakland,” Coliseum Authority chairman and Oakland City Councilman Larry Reid said. “We recognize that we still have work to do to keep the team and find them a new home in Oakland. We are encouraged by these developments and will do our best to keep the team here.”

Schaaf reiterated that sentiment this morning. “Now that LA is behind us, we can get the attention on the work at hand,” she said.

See Also:

• Breaking: Hello, LA Rams! Chargers-Raiders’ Fate Up in Air
• Mayor Tells Raiders Fans to ‘Keep the Faith’ Despite Possible Move
• Oakland Raiders Apply for Move to Los Angeles

By Bay City News

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