A new stadium offer has been pitched by Oakland Mayor Jean Quan’s development people that would give free land to the Raiders with area taxpayers picking up the tab for $120MM the team owes from the 1990s remodeling of the Coliseum, according to the San Francisco Chronicle’s Phillip Matier and Andrew Ross. The Coliseum, in turn, would be torn down.
Zach Wasserman, an attorney representing backers of a planned sports, housing and retail complex called Coliseum City, says the “basic terms” of a financial deal have been worked out amongst all of the involved parties. At this stage, the plan is awaiting final approval from Raiders owner Mark Davis. On the surface, it sounds like a very advantageous deal for the silver and black. Anything is possible, it sounds like the odds of the team staying put in Oakland, despite recent flirtations with the cities of Los Angeles and San Antonio, have just improved drastically.