Oakland Raiders: Attempts To Keep Team In Bay Area Seem Halfhearted

If it were up to the Oakland Raiders‘ fans, a new stadium deal would have been done already, and there would be no imminent threat of the team pulling up stakes and heading south. That much was evident by the gathering of Raider fans outside of the Ritz-Carlton in San Francisco – the site of the NFL Owner’s Meeting – who carried signs, screamed, shouted, and chanted for Mark Davis not to take their beloved team away.

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Unfortunately for the fans though, it’s not up to Davis alone. To get a stadium deal done, he has to work with not just with the city of Oakland, but with Alameda County as well. And both of those entities have been unwilling dance partners – at best. The city and county seem more interested in passing the buck and kicking things down the road than they are in actually sitting down and hammering out a deal to keep the Raiders in Oakland.

It really makes one wonder just how committed the city of Oakland and Alameda County are to keeping the Raiders in the Bay Area.

Yes, it’s a little more complicated than just sitting down and signing a few forms. But this is an issue that has been a long time in the making. And it’s only now, at the eleventh hour – though Davis hesitates in using that phrase – when there is a very real, very tangible possibility that the Raiders could be LA-bound again that Oakland and Alameda County have gotten to work addressing the issue.

It’s not surprising, given the fact that they’re trying so hard to play catch up – or at least give the impression that they’re trying hard to play catch up – that they are running into problems and having issues. Issues serious enough that a recent article that appeared in the San Francisco Chronicle characterized the negotiations to get a stadium deal done as “gurgling blood,” and it only being a matter of time before it is officially declared dead.

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One of the biggest issues of course, as it always is, boils down to money. Davis has committed $500 million dollars to a stadium project expected to cost around $900 million. And despite political creatures like Oakland mayor Libby Schaaf acting almost surprised by those figures, it’s not something that hasn’t been known for a while already.

Said Larry Reid, Oakland City Councilman:

"“We’ve always known there’s a half-billion gap. Someone like Kephart was always going to have to put together the financing.”"

The city and county are still paying off money from the Raiders’ move back to the Bay Area and are claiming poverty when it comes to scraping up the additional money needed to get a deal done. But they will not commit to assisting Davis and the Raiders with building a new home – despite the fact that a Coliseum City as Davis has envisioned it, would potentially create hundreds, if not thousands of new jobs and spur the local economy – something Schaaf claims to be committed to doing.

The city has committed to financing the infrastructure for Davis’ Coliseum City, but draws the line at stadium construction costs.

Said Schaaf:

"“I feel very confident the residents of Oakland do not want more tax dollars going to stadium construction.”"

Floyd Kephart, a San Diego based businessman, was granted an exclusive negotiating agreement with Oakland and Alameda County, and has been tasked with working out a deal – including the financing – to keep the Raiders in Oakland.

To this point, there hasn’t seemed to be much urgency in Kephart’s work, and he seems bound and determined to use every hour until his June twenty-first deadline to present the package. Though, given how rapidly the city of San Diego put together a proposal package to fund and build a stadium to keep the Chargers down south – juxtaposed against the foot dragging and delay tactics in Oakland – and it really makes you wonder if this isn’t all being slow walked on purpose.

Given the state of negotiations with Oakland and Alameda County, Davis has pursued an alternative solution for his club – the joint stadium venture with the Chargers in Carson, California. It’s a solution that has really begun to take shape, and one that has become very viable. And given the hiring of former San Francisco 49ers president Carmen Policy to shepherd the deal along and sell it to the league, it’s a plan that has become very, very real.

Davis has made his preference to stay in Oakland abundantly clear on many occasions. But by their actions – or rather, their inactions – it doesn’t seem to be reciprocated by the city or the county. As Davis told some of the Raider fans assembled outside of the Ritz-Carlton:

"“Let the people at the city and county know what you want done. You’ve got a willing partner here. But you’ve got to do it quick, man, that’s all I’ve got to say.”"

And by “quick,” we can only assume he is talking about Kephart’s June twenty-first deadline. If a deal, or at least the solid foundation of a deal, can’t be worked out by then, Davis may have no choice but to relocate to Southern California. The Raiders simply cannot afford to continue playing in a substandard stadium – which is putting it kindly.

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Schaaf though, continues attempting to put the onus on Davis and the Raiders, saying:

“It would be nice if the Raiders would put as much energy toward development in Oakland as they have in Carson. But we will continue to work with them to find a solution.”

It’s unclear how Schaaf figures that Davis has not put his energy toward keeping his team in Oakland or what more he could have done/can be doing. The city and county knew where he stands, and know how to reach him if they want to talk – and yet the whole process continues to drag along on life support.

At this point, it would almost be a mercy for somebody to pull the plug and be done with it. Despite their protests to the contrary, and the illusion of progress they are attempting to create, the city and the county both seem more than willing, and perhaps even happy, to let the Raiders go to Los Angeles.

Or perhaps, it’s all a bluff, and they’re just daring Davis to give it a shot.

Either way, the outside perception is that the city of Oakland and Alameda County are less than genuine in their stated desire to keep the Raiders, and that their efforts are halfhearted – at best. Unless Kephart comes back with a viable plan that knocks everybody’s socks off, it seems to be something of a foregone conclusion that the Raiders’ time in Oakland is running short.

And what makes the idea of the Raiders leaving town once again all the more heartbreaking for fans like those gathered outside of the Ritz-Carlton, is that the city of Oakland – or at least mayor Schaaf and her cohorts – seem perfectly okay with that.

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