For months now, the updates about the Oakland Raiders move have been like a revolving door. First, they were considering moving to Los Angeles by themselves. Then, they were going to partner with the Chargers to create a shared stadium in Carson with the backing of a Disney CEO. After the Rams were officially moving to Inglewood, CA, both the Raiders and the Chargers were offered a 50/50 partnership with them. However, it was pretty obvious that the Chargers were the preferred and more financially succinct partner, leaving the Raiders dreams of collaborating in Carson as a distant hope.
The NFL offered Mark Davis, the notorious Al Davis' son, a $100 million reprieve to help with stadium solutions in Oakland. This wouldn't totally solve the Coliseum problem, but it would be enough money to provide options and even renovations if that was the path chosen. Many people have discussed why the Raiders don't just join the 49ers in Santa Clara at the brand new Levi Stadium. The reason why that wouldn't work out is pretty clear: the teams absolutely hate each other. There is no way that much attitude and pride would fit into one venue.
In July, Coliseum developer Floyd Kephart asked for public dollars (and a lot of them) from the cities of Oakland and Alameda primarily to design "sports facilities, housing, restaurants and retail." Many city and county officials in the area are against using subsidies in payment for sports stadiums, so the actuality of this happening before Kephart proposed it was slim to none. It seems that when politicians in Oakland stood by what they said, this made Mark Davis want to threaten to move to Los Angeles even more.
Here's the reality, Davis: You pretty much got screwed out of a deal in LA, which sucks, but let's not forget the fact that you were just offered $100 million to renovate the Coliseum, where one of the fiercest fan bases in the NFL has thrived despite your father basically bulldozing the organization into the ground. Do you really want to recreate your father's ugly legacy of pulling the Raiders to Los Angeles for 13 years and coming right back to the Bay? At least, when your father tested the fan base's loyalty by moving, he did so because the renovations to the Coliseum were blocked, not because he wanted a whole new stadium entirely.
I am guessing that there will be a facade put on for a little while longer about how Davis still wants to move, maybe even to San Antonio like some reports say. It's easy to keep a fan base if you're moving in the same state, but it's much harder to keep one going if you're moving across the country. What's even more of a reason to stay is that the A's will most likely be moving away from the Coliseum sometime soon, meaning that the Coliseum would belong exclusively the Raiders. We would no longer be the last NFL team to share a stadium with an MLB franchise.
Everyone gets that the NFL is a corporation and Mark Davis will always be looking to make more money. LA may be attractive and all, but now that it's mostly out of the question, stay home, Davis. Restore the Coliseum to what it once was. Thanks to Del Rio, we finally look like less of a laughing stock to the league and most fans are too consumed with wondering if this coach, number nine in just 13 years, will actually stick. We don't have any time for your antics.
