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Oakland Councilman Wants Raiders Out Of Coliseum Now, But Mark Davis Wants To Stay

Shortly after NFL owners approved the Raiders move to Las Vegas, Oakland Councilman Larry Reid, angered by the decision, said that he "wants the team out" of Oakland Alameda-County Coliseum as early as next season, according to David Debolt of the EAST BAY TIMES. Reid is "consulting with city attorneys to see if there is a legal way to kick the Raiders out of the facility, forcing them to play the next two seasons elsewhere." Reid said, "I don’t want them here. They can go down to Santa Clara and play" (EAST BAY TIMES, 3/28). Meanwhile, Raiders Owner Mark Davis yesterday said that he was "open to extending the team's lease" and playing the '19 season in Oakland as well. Davis: "If they want us, we'd seriously consider it" (ESPN.com, 3/27). Davis was asked about the team's "lame duck" status in Oakland and said, "I wouldn't use the term 'lame duck.' We're still the Oakland Raiders" ("NFL Live," ESPN, 3/27). USA TODAY's Lindsay Jones notes Davis "understands if fans don't want to stick around while the team awaits its relocation." Davis yesterday said that the team would "offer a full refund for deposits fans have made on season tickets in Oakland." Davis: "We'll be happy to do that" (USA TODAY, 3/28).

NEVER THE SAME
: In Oakland, Elliott almond notes Davis yesterday made his "strongest rebuke to Oakland officials to date." Davis said that "their actions last year forced him to leave." Davis: "It turned during L.A. where before the vote Oakland had an opportunity to come and make a presentation. They had a five-page piece of paper that had nothing to do with anything." Davis said that East Bay officials "thought they would have all the leverage after NFL owners rejected the Raiders’ proposed move" to the L.A. area. Davis said, "A week later, I got a call from the county Board of Supervisors telling me that the lease we just negotiated" would include a rent increase for three years. Davis: "At that point, we decided we had to start looking elsewhere" (EAST BAY TIMES, 3/28). In S.F., Kimberly Veklerov writes the choices made by Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf "may have cost her city its NFL team, but they will likely win her political support outside the devoted team fan base." But Reid said, "The mayor deserves a lot of credit for drawing the line" (S.F. CHRONICLE, 3/28).

AWKWARD MOMENT: USA TODAY's Jarrett Bell writes regardless of how Davis explains it, it will be "tough to convince some fans in the Bay Area that he could not have held out longer." They are "hot, bothered and angry, the latest group of jilted fans whose team is moving away for greener (as in money) pastures." What a long, lame duck window that "surely some might view as a slap in the face to Oakland." Bell: "This will be so awkward" (USA TODAY, 3/28). In St. Louis, Jim Thomas writes the "loyalty and passion of Raiders fans in Oakland surely will be tested because of their lame-duck status" (ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH, 3/28). In San Jose, Mark Purdy notes Oakland and Bay Area fans "face a long goodbye." Purdy: "This is going to be one of the stranger chapters in American pro sports" (SAN JOSE MERCURY NEWS, 3/28). CBSSPORTS.com's Jason La Canfora wrote, "It’s another painful and complicated chapter in the franchise’s transient history -- moving from Oakland to Los Angeles and back again, only now to head east assuming Davis comes through on the lease contingencies he must finalize to consummate this deal" (CBSSPORTS.com, 3/27). In Oakland, David DeBolt writes under the header, "Raider Nation Curses Team's Flight To Sin City" (EAST BAY TIMES, 3/28). In N.Y., Michael Powell writes under the header, "The NFL And The Business Of Ripping Out The Heart Of Oakland" (N.Y. TIMES, 3/28). 

ALONE ON THE BAY: ESPN.com's Nick Wagoner noted for the first time since '94, the 49ers will "soon be the lone NFL franchise in the Bay Area." 49ers CEO Jed York said that it "won't make much of a difference" in terms of how the 49ers "plan to go about their business moving forward." York: "For us, I don't think it's a big win for the 49ers, but I think it's a good thing for the National Football League." He added, "Raiders fans, they're loyal to the Raiders. They're very different than 49ers fans, and there's not a ton of overlap where you would see different teams kind of go from one to another. You just haven't seen that, and I wouldn't expect it going forward" (ESPN.com, 3/27). In San Jose, Cam Inman asks, "Could another Raiders exit spark another 49ers resurgence." 49ers GM John Lynch said, "Part of me says I think it's good for us. Raiders fans, we're open for business. Come and jump on our train" (SAN JOSE MERCURY NEWS, 3/28).

WHAT A COINCIDENCE: USA TODAY notes the A's had a "rally planned to mark one week until Opening Day, but the proceedings took on a different feel" in the wake of the Raiders "receiving their ticket to ride out of town." A's President Dave Kaval joined Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf on the roof of City Hall, a "reminder the club has zeroed in on the city as a permanent site" for a new ballpark. That process "probably got much simpler with the Raiders’ move" (USA TODAY, 3/28). YAHOO SPORTS' Mike Oz wrote under the header, "With The Raiders Leaving, The A's Are Staking Their Claim To Oakland." The flag of the A's "waved high from the roof of Oakland’s City Hall" yesterday morning. The team and the city "held a brief ceremony on the roof." It might have "looked like the A’s were celebrating the big sports news of the day." However, it was "all just a coincidence." A very "oddly timed -- perhaps even humorously timed -- coincidence, since it happened just an hour after the NFL’s vote" (SPORTS.YAHOO.com, 3/27).

PLAYING MONEYBALL: Texans Owner and NFL finance committee chair Bob McNair said that the A's ballpark lease was a "factor that caused the NFL to give up on trying to remain in Oakland." McNair: "Our first choice was to get a viable stadium in Oakland. We never could get the city to make the kind of commitment -- and I'm not talking about a lot of money but committing the land and giving access to it." He added, "Right now, they have a lease with the A's that doesn't expire until 2024. That just clouded the whole issue" (HOUSTON CHRONICLE, 3/28). NFL.com's Michael Silver wrote, "Throw in the fact Oakland is also charged with satisfying the stadium-related concerns of the A's, who annually host 81 regular-season baseball games to the Raiders' eight, and Davis was going to have a hard time finding satisfaction." What Oakland "does not have is a football stadium that meets modern NFL standards -- nor does the city have the collective inclination to throw hundreds of millions in public money toward building a new stadium for an owner who lacks the means to build one on his own." This is "not unusual in the state of California, where virtually every stadium constructed in the past several decades has been privately funded, either completely or substantially" (NFL.com, 3/27).

BLAME GAME: The MERCURY NEWS' Purdy writes, "It is a false narrative to say that the A’s forced the Raiders out of Oakland." The politicians of the East Bay "negotiated those lease deals with both the A’s and Raiders." Seven or eight years ago when both leases were coming up for renewal, an "overall strategy could have been developed to keep both teams." Instead, the city "signed short-term leases to keep kicking the two-team can down the road -- with conflicting lease terms that prevented either the A’s or Raiders from gaining control of the Coliseum site for future venues." No such "creativity or civic cooperation occurred in Oakland, at least until it was much too late" (SAN JOSE MERCURY NEWS, 3/28). In S.F., Ann Killion writes there are "a lot of villains here, but none more than Davis, who had other options, but because of "hubris and self-importance, he didn’t follow those options." The logical choice was to "partner with the 49ers on a stadium" (S.F. CHRONICLE, 3/28). CSNBAYAREA.com's Ray Ratto wrote Davis "decided at least three years ago, and perhaps longer, that the team left to him by his parents and future did not lie in Oakland, and worked aggressively if not always efficiently to find a new business home." Like his father, though, leaving was "time-consuming, expensive and came with a great deal of friction" (CSNBAYAREA.com, 3/27). A S.F. CHRONICLE editorial writes under the header, "Oakland Stood Tall Against NFL Extortion" (S.F. CHRONICLE, 3/28).

GIVE ME OPTIONS: In Sacramento, Ailene Voisin notes Davis "had options." But he was "never serious and, without a committed partner, a Raiders-49ers deal was a non-starter" (SACRAMENTO BEE, 3/28). NFL.com's Judy Battista wrote of all the moves the NFL has made, "literally and figuratively, this is the one that will certainly cause an occasional longing glance at what is left behind -- a booming, lucrative area for one that is famously susceptible to the vicissitudes of the economy." The NFL will "almost certainly try to place a team there again someday." However, one league exec noted "how long it took" to return to L.A. after it was left empty, and in the meantime the NFL will "probably be happy to use Oakland as its latest leverage for teams seeking new stadiums" (NFL.com, 3/27).

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