Written by John Breech at CBSSports.com
It appears that the Raiders are already making contingency plans in case their divorce with the city of Oakland gets messy.
After the team’s move to Las Vegas was approved Monday , Raiders owner Mark Davis said he would like to keep the Raiders in Oakland while the team’s new stadium in Vegas is being built.
“We have two more years of lease options for Oakland right now,” Davis said. “If the fans would like us to stay there, we’d love to be there for that and possibly talk to them about extending it for maybe 2019 as well and try to bring a championship back to Oakland.”
The Raiders currently have a lease at Oakland Coliseum that runs through 2018. However, the lease has a catch: It’s set up as two single-year options, which means the Raiders can back out of it after the 2017 season.
Although Davis wants to stay in Oakland, he clearly won’t be keep his team there if it doesn’t have any support. Davis might think fans will show up, but that’s no guarantee. Just ask the Houston Oilers. When they were approved for relocation to Nashville in May 1996, the plan was for them to play the 1996 and 1997 seasons in Houston before making the move.
However, the team had to move after the 1996 season because they lost nearly all their fan support. If that happens to the Raiders, it looks they’ll be prepared.
According to the Los Angeles Daily News, San Antonio would be a “possible temporary venue” if the Raiders are forced to leave Oakland. Davis visited San Antonio several times over the past two years while he was looking at possible places to move his team.
Another possibility for the Raiders would be moving in with the 49ers at Levi’s Stadium for a season or two. Ian Rapoport said Monday on NFL Network that the 49ers would definitely be open to sharing the stadium with the Raiders for the 2019 season, and possibly even 2018.
