The respective futures of the Chargers and Raiders are still very much in the air, and according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter, a potential Raiders’ move to San Diego is “very viable.” The Chargers and Rams, of course, are discussing the possibility of a Los Angeles partnership, and if the Chargers do end up following the Rams to LA, Schefter says the Raiders could move to San Diego in 2017 or 2018. San Diego has already been floated as a possible landing spot for the Raiders, but Schefter’s report indicates that those rumors could have some serious traction.
The Raiders are expected to remain in Oakland for at least the 2016 season, as Schefter and Matt Artz and Rebecca Parr of the Contra Costa Times write. Per Artz and Parr, Raiders brass and the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum Authority will meet behind closed doors tomorrow to discuss a lease extension. As Artz and Parr indicate, Raiders owner Mark Davis wants the extension while he continues to negotiate with city leaders for a new stadium in Oakland.
In a separate piece for InsideBayArea.com, Artz says that Raiders and Oakland officials have the same strategy for financing a new stadium: “entice a developer to help pay for it in return for cheap land and a piece of the team.” However, it is doubtful whether that strategy will be enough to help fund what the Raiders believe will be a $900MM project, especially since the Raiders’ insistence on preserving most of the stadium site for tailgating-friendly surface parking spaces limits any developer’s ability to turn a profit. On the other hand, Artz points out that the Raiders’ options outside of Oakland, including San Diego, have some major drawbacks. For instance, if Davis were to pursue a move to San Diego, Artz says that public stadium subsidies would be far from a sure thing, which could take that option off the table entirely.
But Schefter’s source is apparently more optimistic than Artz. And although the terms “Los Angeles Rams” and “Los Angeles Raiders” are rather familiar to many football fans, that source suggests that everyone might have to get used to saying “San Diego Raiders” in the near future.
It’s insane. It’s like the Patriots moving to Denver.
If the NFL lets the Raiders move to San Diego, the fans can’t and WON’T support 3 teams. Tha Rams had a hard time drawing fans in LA when there last time. The market WILL dry up after the newest were’ off and the teams will be looking for NEW homes or to sell. The NFL is stupid to think So.Cal. Can support 3 teams.
San Diego isn’t a suburb of Los Angeles. If the Chargers move they will lose most of their fans. San Diego has supported an NFL team for 55 years and could again. It is at least as viable an NFL city as Jacksonville and some other places with teams.
So you think most Chargers fans would become Raiders fans? Even those that have followed the Chargers for years?
Mark Davis needs to stop embarrassing his Pops. He isn’t cut out to be an NFL owner and needs to sell that team to someone who can compete in today’s landscape. It’s one of the iconic franchises, but as long as he’s the owner, the rest of the league will keep treating him like a joke because he doesn’t have the personality his father had. Just magine if Al Davis was alive and that LA stadium deal was floated. He would have squashed it or demanded to be in on it through litigation, not get pushed to the side.
True
If Al were alive, that is exactly what he’d do. Great, great owner.