With the Oakland Raiders on a bye week preparing for a Week 8 matchup against the Pittsburgh Steelers, the city of Oakland will be making a decision that could affect the franchise’s future.
The Raiders currently call O.co Coliseum home, along with the Oakland Athletics, and share a parking lot with the Oracle Arena, home of the Golden State Warriors.
According to Levi Damien of SB Nation’s Silver & Black Pride, Raider fan Ray “Dr. Death” Perez spoke about the plans for tonight:
Oakland fans are strongly recommended to come out to Oakland city hall tonight at 5:30. Today is do or die for coliseum city and the city of Oakland. We need to come out and show support for our teams this is it we can help change the landscape of Oakland for ever if Coliseum City is passed, said Perez.
The vote is simply to extend the deadline for the planning period by 12 months. The group trying to fund the proposal is the Bay Investment Group (BIG), comprised of Colony Capital and HayaH Holding.
Mayor Jean Quan added her thoughts of keeping the Raiders in Oakland via Damien:
That means the investors, the team, the City, the County, the workers who would get jobs out of Coliseum City, and the businesses that would be supported and created by this vision: everyone benefits by getting this project off the ground, and everyone benefits by keeping this team in Oakland, said Quan.
If the extension is passed, BIG would have a debt replacement strategy and public infrastructure due on January 1, 2014. This would be the first of a few deadlines that BIG would have for the proposed deal.
The toughest part of the project could be having each team agree to stay in Oakland, as the Raiders, Athletics and Warriors have all been linked to new stadiums in other cities.
The approval of the extension would go a long way in securing those teams, as the proposal would be able to get past the planning stage and begin to take form.
The Raiders may see what their future holds after the vote tonight.
