Oakland gives Raiders one-year lease at Coliseum, won’t make them play in street

access_time personNeil deMause

The Oakland Raiders finally got a one-year lease extension on Friday, which means two things: They’ll have a place to play this year, and owner Mark Davis can finally pay the $400,000 he owes for last year.

The Raiders will pay another $400,000 in rent this year, which seems like a great deal for them considering the stadium authority could have demanded anything — more rent, a multi-year lease, that Davis perform an interpretive dance before each game — knowing that the team would have nowhere to play otherwise. Oakland officials apparently decided to play nice, which is fine enough if they want to keep the door open to the Raiders building a new stadium, though given the last plan that was floated you could make a good case that it’s a door Oakland should want to see slammed shut.Anyway, no homeless NFL teams for 2015. Too bad, because it sounds like so much fun.

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7 comments on “Oakland gives Raiders one-year lease at Coliseum, won’t make them play in street”

  1. Come on, Neil. If the Oakland Coliseum Authority would’ve played hardball it would’ve been so, so easy for the NFL to just let the Raiders move to the L.A. Coliseum this season and take AEG’s offer (or pair with the Chargers, if the Carson thing happens).

  2. Not that easy – the relocation window for 2015 has closed, and while I’m sure the NFL would love to make an exception for a homeless team, there would almost certainly be an internal battle over letting the Raiders jump the line on an LA move.

    Not that I really think Oakland should have told Davis to hit the road, fun as that would be. But cities do seem to be overly hesitant to play hardball, especially when the people on the other side of the table are so ready to.

  3. @Neil: In case you missed it, and interesting inteview by Tim Kawakami with Mark Davis on the Carson deal and other stadium options. http://blogs.mercurynews.com/kawakami/2015/03/06/raiders-owner-mark-davis-tk-show-ready-free-agency-carson-plan-came-together-chargers-oakland-discussions/

  4. I agree with Ben – Not only LA but the Raiders, in a pinch, could have considered the Niners stadium or Cal Memorial stadium. It would have been a stretch (and not at all easy) but to suggest there were no alternatives for the Raiders when two very new/refurbished stadiums are within earshot of Oakland is not accurate.

  5. @Dean and @Ben….listen to the the Davis interview. He explains why the Niners weren’t an option. (Whether or not you believe him).

  6. To be fair, This is the 20th anniversary of Oakland kissing that family’s ass.

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