The Oakland Raiders are ready to move. The Raiders are willing to put up $300 million dollars for a new $800 million football stadium. According to Mike Wilkening of ProFootballTalk.com, the Raiders want to build the a 50,000 seat stadium on their current location. Oakland believes that their needs would be better suited with a newly constructed stadium.
The team does not want to fit the whole bill.
“Both sides are conducting studies to determine the demand and financial viability of the project,” Raiders director of public affairs Mike Taylor said.
The Raiders lease with the O.Co Coliseum ends after the 2013 season. According to Matthew Artz of the Oakland Tribune, the Raiders are looking for a long term lease in a new stadium.
My primary concern is this is a city that always had three major league teams and that now there is the possibility that we will have none,” he said.
David Stone, whose firm is AECOM, is working on a plan to fund the new Raiders’ stadium proposal. Stone is working on feasibility for the new stadium by increasing hotel and rental car fares.
“The Raiders’ struggle to privately finance a stadium stems from poor corporate support,” Stone said.
The Raiders are not looking to sign another short term lease. There are possibilities of relocation to Los Angeles, where a 75,000-seat stadium has been proposed.
“There is no set deadline … but we know time is not on our side, even if there isn’t a deadline,” Assistant City Administrator Fred Blackwell said.
Team executives are willing to move the team out of Oakland if they can secure a new state of the arc stadium. The pressure is on in Oakland for the city to keep the Raiders. Either put up or shut up is really what it comes down to. Oakland cherishes its beloved Raiders, but Los Angeles who were once the Raiders, has been in need of a team since they moved back to Oakland in 1995. The battle for the Raiders continues, and the building of a new stadium will decide where the Raiders may wind up.
