The Oakland Raiders have one of the least desirable stadium situations in all of the NFL. In sharing their home stadium with Major League Baseball’s Oakland A’s, it causes some difficult field conditions due to the dirt and pitching mound necessary for baseball. The Raiders even had to change the starting time of a recent home game against the San Diego Chargers due to an A’s playoff game the previous night.
Oakland’s City Council held a vote yesterday on whether to extend the deadline to reach a new stadium deal by one year and with a 6-0 vote, the City Council unanimously approved, giving hope to the fans that the team will remain in Oakland for years to come.
According to the San Jose Mercury News, in addition to the extension, the City Council also approved the inclusion of two new investors, Dubai-based businessman Rashid Al Malik and Colony Capital, the third largest privately held real estate firm in the world.
This extension also allows gives the developers the option of further extending the deadline an additional six months, but the city can terminate the agreement if the developers fail to reach certain benchmarks which include completing a feasibility study, obtaining funding for the beginning phases of the project, and getting a signed letter of interest from either the Raiders or A’s by mid-April.
The Raiders have some of the most passionate fans in all of sports, and moving them away from Oakland would take the NFL away from one of the loudest fan bases in all of America. There is nothing more menacing than staring down the Black Hole in Oakland, and losing that would be a horrible loss for the NFL
