Oakland city and Alameda County officials have asked for an "appraisal of the jointly owned Coliseum site, as negotiations begin" with a group headed by NFL HOFer Ronnie Lott to "build a new football stadium" to keep the Raiders there, according to David DeBolt of the EAST BAY TIMES. On Tuesday, the Alameda County Board of Supervisors "voted unanimously to begin negotiations with Lott's investment group, Oakland City Pro Football Group, and the city of Oakland 'regarding price and terms for sale' of the 120-acre site that includes the Coliseum and Oracle Arena." City officials said that it will "take a month to appraise the Coliseum grounds." Lott has met with several Oakland City Council members, county supervisors and Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf "over the past few months" (EAST BAY TIMES, 7/15).
MAKING A PUSH: A LAS VEGAS SUN editorial stated the city's Tourism Infrastructure Committee "should push" for a 100-acre site near West Tropicana Avenue "as hard as possible" as a site for a Raiders stadium. The site is now "anchored by Station Casinos' Wild Wild West property." It is situated "close to the Strip but far enough away" from McCarran Int'l Airport that it "shouldn't interfere with airline operations, unlike the Trop-42 site." The West Tropicana site is "plenty big" and few other potential Raiders sites in Las Vegas "offer that much ground, especially cramped properties like the old Wet 'n Wild lost south of SLS Las Vegas and the Riviera acreage now being cleared by the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority." The site is "bigger than MGM Resorts' festival grounds." The West Tropicana location "offers abundant room for game-related activities -- tailgating, game-day entertainment and festivals and so forth." It also would "ostensibly be cheaper" because it is "not a piece of prime Strip-front real estate." Although it is not on UNLV's campus, "it's close," and in a "much more attractive location than Sam Boyd Stadium" (LAS VEGAS SUN, 7/12).
