Raiders have an option to stay in Napa in '20, but any future years at the site must be negotiatedraiders
The Raiders' impending move to Las Vegas next year "won't necessarily" cause the team to "move training camp to Nevada," according to Jerry McDonald of the San Jose MERCURY NEWS. The Raiders have held training camp in Napa, Calif., since '96 and team Owner Mark Davis said that "relocating in their soon-to-be home state isn’t necessarily the plan." Davis, on the Raiders first day of training camp yesterday, said, "No matter where we go, we’ll have to fly to Las Vegas from training camp." He said, "If we were to go to Reno, or anywhere else in the world to train, we would still have to fly there. Then, why not just fly from here?" Reno and Lake Tahoe have "both been mentioned as potential training camp sites, although the altitude at Lake Tahoe is problematic." The Raiders have an "option to remain in Napa next season and Davis said they will 'almost for sure' exercise that option for next season." Any future years in Napa "would have to be negotiated" (San Jose MERCURY NEWS, 7/29).
HAPPY AS CAN BE: In K.C., Brooke Pryor noted the Chiefs have conducted training camp in St. Joseph, Mo., since '09, making it the "third-longest tenured location in franchise history." The Chiefs' contract with Missouri Western State Univ., which was amended in '15, extended by a year in '18 and includes a mutual option for '19, "runs out after this camp, and there isn’t a new deal on the table to guarantee the team’s return." Chiefs President Mark Donovan said, "Somebody is going to have to come in here and overwhelm us to take it away from St. Joe" (K.C. STAR, 7/27).
END OF AN ERA: In Charlotte, Madeline Coleman noted for the past 25 years, the Panthers have conducted training camp at Wofford College, but that contract "ends this year." The team is building a "new headquarters and practice facility that’s expected to open" in Rock Hill, S.C., in '21 or '22. What "isn’t clear, though: Where will camp be held" in '20? What is "clear is that the Panthers’ relationship with Spartanburg has an expiration date" (CHARLOTTE OBSERVER, 7/28).
