The Raiders "remain committed to finding a way to play in Oakland" for the '19 season "despite word that the agency that oversees their Bay Area stadium will not extend the team’s lease," according to Adam Candee of the LAS VEGAS SUN. Raiders Owner Mark Davis said, “Hopefully when the emotions die down a little bit, we can sit down and talk.” Oakland Alameda-County Coliseum Authority Exec Dir Scott McKibben said that the authority "loses money on hosting Raiders games, generating roughly" $7M in annual revenue while incurring between $8M and $8.5M in expenses. The $7M includes the team’s $3.5M rent payment (LAS VEGAS SUN, 3/30). CBS Sports' Jason La Canfora said the "goal of Raider Nation now, at least the Bay Area Raider Nation, is to make life as uncomfortable for Mark Davis as humanly possible, and I believe they will succeed with that." La Canfora: "This idea that they're going to play there for two years because that’s what the lease says. ... I believe that will be highly untenable on multiple levels. I believe Mark Davis is going to need copious amounts of security early in the season, and I'm not even sure he'll be able to attend games late. ... I don't see how they're going to come out of this and say, ‘Yeah, let's do that again in 2018 and go back to O.Co’” ("Time to Schein," CBSSN, 3/29).
FINDING A FIT: In San Jose, Daniel Mano writes the Raiders' "obvious option is Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, the 49ers’ home but built to house two teams." Given the "connections between Levi’s" and Cowboys Owner Jerry Jones, that "seems a real prospect." Mano notes it is "true that late Raiders owner Al Davis decided against signing up with the 49ers to construct Levi’s," but that "doesn’t necessitate" Mark Davis staying away. San Antonio’s Alamodome "could be a one-year, relief-plan home for Davis." Other possible '19 options for the Raiders "theoretically include Cal’s Memorial Stadium and the Giants’ AT&T Park" (SAN JOSE MERCURY NEWS, 3/30). VICE SPORTS' Aaron Gordon wrote under the header, "If The Raiders Really Cared About Their Fans, They'd Leave Oakland Now." The city of Oakland, Alameda County and Raiders fans are "in a weird spot." If gameday revenue "falls as a result of fans not wasting their time and money with a team that's abandoning them ... then the Coliseum Authority will come out in the red." S.F. Chronicle reporter Kimberly Veklerov estimates a 10-15% attendance drop "could cost" the Coliseum Authority $2M a year (SPORTS.VICE.com, 3/29).
WAS SAN ANTONIO AN OPTION? CBS Sports' La Canfora said the NFL "reached out" to the mayor of San Antonio and other officials there and said, "‘Hey, if we had to use you for a year, but it would keep you in the good graces as the potential market or depending on how that goes, maybe it helps your stead, would you consider it?’" San Antonio "was open to that,” but La Canfora thinks the "more viable alternative" is UNLV's Sam Boyd Stadium. La Canfora: "They could not do it for 2017, but with enough notice for kickoff of 2018, not out of the question” (“Time to Schein,” CBSSN, 3/29).
BACK TO THE FUTURE: In San Jose, Mark Purdy notes the most comparable situation to the Raiders’ upcoming stretch occurred in '95 when the Houston Oilers "announced they were going to become the Tennessee Titans in Nashville." The team’s plan was to move there in '98 when a new stadium was "scheduled to be completed -- but in the interim would keep playing in Houston." However, when home crowds in '96 at the Astrodome "slipped to beneath 20,000," then-Oilers Owner Bud Adams decided to play the '97 season in Memphis. Purdy: "Except that Memphis citizens didn’t turn out because they were peeved that Nashville was getting the team permanently." So when the Nashville stadium project was "delayed another year, the Oilers/Titans wound up playing" at Vanderbilt Univ.’s stadium in '98 (SAN JOSE MERCURY NEWS, 3/30).
WORKING THE ROOM: In San Jose, Tim Kawakami wrote under the header, "Mark Davis' Raiders Legacy -- Landing The Stadium His Father Never Could." However the Las Vegas move "turns out for the Raiders, whatever problems arise ... [Davis] got this deal, and got it through the NFL voting, when so many presumed he couldn’t." Davis "continued to be simultaneously under-estimated (because he’s savvier than most give him credit for) and correctly-estimated (because he didn’t have the power to overwhelm anybody and never really tried)." He "certainly isn’t a powerful owner" (SAN JOSE MERCURY NEWS, 3/29).
REAP THE BENEFITS: UNLV football coach Tony Sanchez said that he is "already received some rave reviews from potential recruits" about the team's upcoming stadium shared with the Raiders. In Las Vegas, Mike Grimala notes Sanchez was a "vocal proponent of luring the Raiders and building the stadium." Sanchez: "We’ve heard from a lot of kids. Even other coaches have sent me messages like, ‘Wow coach, that’s huge for the program.' One of the funniest things was, kids we’re recruiting were sending me messages congratulating us." Between the school's upcoming football training facility the Fertitta Complex, the new stadium and potential "better play on the field, Sanchez thinks UNLV can attract enough talented players to turn the school into a consistent winner" (LAS VEGAS SUN, 3/30).
