Oakland Raiders: Reasons why moving to London is a terrible idea

1. There are so many other options

AT&T Park. Levi’s Stadium. Stanford Stadium. Qualcomm Stadium. The list goes on and on.

Yes, I’m sure every potential venue for the Raiders’ one-year layover until they make the move to Las Vegas has its issues. Whether it’s too small, would cost a lot to make NFL-ready, or would involve sharing the digs with another team, no option is really going to be ideal.

However, moving to London to share White Hart Lane with Tottenham Hotspur is about the most complicated of the bunch.

First and foremost, it involves moving a franchise’s operations, it’s hundreds of staff and 50+ professional athletes to a different continent. It’s not like moving from Oakland to Las Vegas — there are a ton of logistical pieces that must be considered that far exceed a domestic move. None of those problems arise when making the move to another semi-local venue.

The only point I can see that makes sense is that 62,000-seat White Hart Lane is currently undergoing renovations. The home team has yet to even play a game there, meaning everything will be in peak condition once it’s ready. That would minimize the amount of extra costs the Raiders would incur.

Heck, even sucking it up and finding a way to coexist with the city of Oakland would be better than moving across the pond. Then again, it is Mark Davis making the calls and he’s not exactly a man of compromise. So don’t be surprised to see the Raiders playing eight games in London in 2019.