Raiders Owner Mark Davis confirmed that he "met with officials from the City of San Antonio on Friday in the Bay Area," as the city "tries to lure the Raiders to relocate," according to Scott Blair of CSNBAYAREA.com. Davis said, "The meeting went great. They let us know what assets San Antonio has to offer." Oakland Mayor-elect Libby Schaaf said that she "reached out to the Raiders on Friday, shortly before the San Antonio representatives made their pitch." Schaaf, speaking to KQED-FM, said that a Raiders exec "reassured her that staying in Oakland is the NFL team’s top priority." Davis said, "My first goal is to keep the Raiders in Oakland. That’s always been the case. I look forward to working with (the new mayor)" (CSNBAYAREA.com, 11/7). In San Antonio, Tom Orsborn reported while former San Antonio Mayor Henry Cisneros and other NFL proponents "desperately want the Raiders to permanently relocate to South Texas, a city councilman in Oakland suggested the Alamo City could only be in the running to host the troubled NFL team for a few seasons." Larry Reid, who also is Oakland's Vice Mayor, is optimistic that a deal "can be struck with the Raiders that would provide them with the proposed football-only stadium that Davis covets." Reid said that if such a deal comes to fruition, it is "possible the Raiders could wind up using the Alamodome only while construction is underway in the Bay Area." Orsborn notes the Raiders "can leave Oakland without penalty after their lease with O.co Coliseum expires at season's end" (SAN ANTONIO EXPRESS-NEWS, 11/8).
RACE AGAINST TIME: In San Jose, Mark Purdy wrote the Raiders' most likely home next season "is still Oakland" because there "are simply too many moving parts to complete a franchise shift to anywhere" by '15. The easiest option for Davis "is still signing a year-to-year deal in Oakland after the lease runs out, to give him more time to decide the team's future." It is "probably what he will do." There also is the "very slight chance that the Raiders would sign a short-term contract to play at Levi's Stadium." Nonetheless, Davis' meeting with San Antonio officials shows that he "is becoming earnest about seeking a new stadium somewhere else, even if it's in Southern California rather than Texas." It "should force Oakland to confront its stadium dilemma on a more serious basis, instead of batting about dreamy plans for a massive construction project involving multiple sports venues and umpty-jillion other buildings" (SAN JOSE MERCURY NEWS, 11/9). Meanwhile, ESPN’s Howard Bryant said, "Here's an idea, Oakland: Say goodbye to the Raiders forever and build your one loyal tenant, the A's, a brand-new baseball-only stadium” (“The Sports Reporters,” ESPN2, 11/9).
I'LL BELIEVE IT WHEN I SEE IT: CBS Sports Network’s Amy Trask, who worked 25 years with the Raiders, said she does not believe the team moving to San Antonio is a "very viable opportunity." She said, "It would be, in my mind, very, very remarkable if that's where the team were to end up." Trask added she "laughed aloud" when she heard comments made earlier this year by Cowboys Owner Jerry Jones and Texans Owner Robert McNair that they would welcome a team in San Antonio. Trask: "The league has tremendous lawyers and let me tell you, those men are not going to say anything that could trigger an antitrust concern" ("That Other Pregame Show,” CBS Sports Network, 11/9).
