The Raiders reportedly found a home for next season, but a key vote is still required before any deal is cemented.
According to the Las Vegas Review-Journal’s Michael Gehlken, the team on Tuesday finalized an agreement on a one-year lease with the Oakland-Alameda Coliseum that would keep the team in Northern California for one more season before it officially moves to Las Vegas.
But the Oakland Alameda County Coliseum Authority Board Commissioners still have to approve the new lease and, according to Gehlken, when the board convenes a special meeting on Wednesday, the vote will not take place.
“A special meeting Wednesday at 9 a.m. has been scheduled for the board that ultimately will vote on a stadium lease, once completed. But vote won’t yet be held. That could come next week,” Gehlken tweeted.
Wednesday’s special meeting will be held in open session, but it is not certain the measure will be approved.
The Raiders are scheduled to move Las Vegas, their new home, when their new stadium is ready for the 2020 season. Their lease with Oakland ran out following the 2018 season, leaving the team scrambling for months to find a home stadium in 2019.
Contentious timeline
The sides had previously agreed on a $7.5 million fee for the Raiders to play home games at the Coliseum in 2019, but the team pulled out of the deal after the city of Oakland filed a federal lawsuit in December over the Raiders’ pending departure.
Owner Mark Davis had been adamant the team would not play in Oakland if a lawsuit was filed, but he has simultaneously expressed a desire to play 2019 close to the Oakland faithful, particularly as other options dried up.
“I’ve said from the beginning, my biggest concern is our fans, and it’s my hope and preference to remain in the Bay Area (in 2019) for them,” Davis told the Review-Journal last week. “The fans have always been first in my heart. We do have other options, but the hope is to remain in the Bay Area next season until we move to Las Vegas in 2020, which I remain very excited about.”
Reports emerged the night of Super Bowl LIII on Feb. 3 that the Raiders had agreed with MLB’s San Francisco Giants to play in 2019 at Oracle Park (previously known as AT&T Park) on the San Francisco waterfront, but the San Francisco 49ers reportedly refused to waive their territorial rights to the city, killing any deal between the Raiders and Giants.
–Field Level Media
