Raiders Owner Has No Plans To Sign Lease Extension With Oakland After 2014 Season
LOS ANGELES(CBSLA.com) — Citing little effort by Oakland to renovate the city's 48-year-old stadium, Raiders owner Mark Davis said he has no plans to sign a lease extension after the 2014 season.
The Raiders were optimistic of getting a facelift to their shared stadium after the Oakland Athletics signed a 10-year lease with Alameda's Coliseum, but Oakland apparently doesn't want to help out the Silver and Black.
As result, according to the SF Gate, Davis, with the support of the NFL, is stepping up efforts to find a new location.
Last month, Davis had "serious" talks with San Antonio officials for a possible move to Texas.
"It was a serious conversation," Davis told The Chronicle Tuesday. "I don't waste my time just having meetings. But we continue to try to get something done in Oakland."
If not San Antonio, Los Angeles is a top choice of destinations for Davis. The LA Raiders played in Los Angeles Coliseum from 1982-1994, where they gained thousands of fans.
The love for the Silver and Black in Southern California is so high that during a practice in Oxnard with the Cowboys, the majority of the 8,000-plus fans chanted "Bring them Back [to Los Angeles]".
Dodgers part-owner and former Lakers great Magic Johnson is also in support of bringing an NFL team to Los Angeles.
He believes, along with Patriots owner Robert Kraft, that Los Angeles will have two NFL teams in two years.
Government officials in Oakland are aware and not surprised Davis is looking elsewhere, noting that a $600 million funding gap existed for a football-only stadium.
Like the Raiders, the San Diego Chargers are also on a year-to-year basis with their lease with Qualcomm Stadium. Qualcomm was completed a year after Oakland's stadium, having opened in 1967.
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