Raiders lose relocation attempt

Photo+courtesy+of+BrokenSphere%2FWikimedia

Photo courtesy of BrokenSphere/Wikimedia

Louis LaVenture,
News and Sports Editor

When NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell scolded the Oakland Raiders last week for their lack of viable options to keep the franchise in the East Bay city, it was a clear indicator of things to come.

The silver and black have no current plan in place to keep the team in Oakland, while they do have a rough plan to move to Carson in Southern California. However, all of that was temporarily dashed on Tuesday when NFL team owners approved the St. Louis Rams and San Diego Chargers relocation to Inglewood next season, effectively ending the Raiders plans of moving.

The Raiders Southern California stadium venture would have been in conjunction with the Chargers and the two would have shared a facility similar to the current situation between the New York Giants and New York Jets in their New Jersey complex. However, Rams owner Stan Kroenke already purchased land in Inglewood for a stadium that will be done in 2019 now that his franchise has the approval to move. The owners gave the Chargers until 2017 to figure out a plan to move or plans to lease the Inglewood complex.

Where does this leave the Raiders?

Temporarily it means staying in Oakland. If the silver and black want to pursue a move to Southern California they would have to wait until the Chargers make up their mind. The NFL confirmed on Tuesday that only two franchises would be allowed to occupy the region. For now the Raiders will have to make things work in Oakland, with the relocation process closed until next year. It has been speculated by various local media that the Raiders will sign an extension at O. co Coliseum now that they are not going to Los Angeles.[mks_pullquote align=”left” width=”300″ size=”24″ bg_color=”#b5b5b5″ txt_color=”#000000″]“We want to keep all of our professional teams in Oakland,” Mayor Libby Schaaf said[/mks_pullquote]

“We want to keep all of our professional teams in Oakland,” Mayor Libby Schaaf said. “We just can’t do that at the cost of our citizens. It’s too much.”

Schaaf and the Mayor’s office submitted a plan to the NFL on Dec. 30 to keep the team in Oakland but it did not include a plan to finance a new stadium; instead it offered an explanation on how they will eventually get to one. In a report given to all 32 teams, Goodell called all three teams plans to stay in their current cities “unsatisfactory and inadequate.”

Raiders owner Mark Davis told reporters last month that the plan for a new stadium in Oakland “does not work” for the silver and black.