Fansided

Oakland, Alameda County uniting to try and keep Raiders

By Will Osgood

December 21, 2014; Oakland, CA, USA; Oakland Raiders fans hold "Stay in Oakland" signs during the third quarter against the Buffalo Bills at O.co Coliseum. The Raiders defeated the Bills 26-24. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports
December 21, 2014; Oakland, CA, USA; Oakland Raiders fans hold "Stay in Oakland" signs during the third quarter against the Buffalo Bills at O.co Coliseum. The Raiders defeated the Bills 26-24. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports /
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The City of Oakland and Alameda County is attempting to keep the Raiders franchise, rumored to be ready to head to Los Angeles. 

The Oakland Raiders last month joined forces with the Chargers on a “joint stadium” proposal which would put the two current AFC West rivals in Carson, CA. The result, at least in theory, would force one of the two franchises to switch conferences, and create additional logistical complications.

But it’s possible those complications will never see the light of day. Both San Diego and Oakland are trying desperately to come up with separate solutions to keep the franchises in their current cities. The City of Oakland and Alameda County are uniting themselves to make a new stadium agreement work in their city.

With time running out on the side of Oakland keeping the team, the time to act was clearly now. The local governing bodies of Alameda County of the City of Oakland agreed to an important measure in which a new complex could be built in the Coliseum City complex.

The agreement between Alameda County and The New City Development was led by Floyd Kephart. They agreed formally to join sides on Friday.

“We’ve been separated for awhile, but we agree the baby is valuable,” said Oakland City Council president Lynette Gibson McElhaney.

According to ESPN.com, the Oakland Raiders were 30th in the NFL in home attendance in 2014, with just 459,333 (a sad 57,416 per game average). That was actually an improvement over the 2013 season when the Raiders were last in the league in attendance with just over 50,000 attendees per contest and had local blackouts in just about every game.

Part of that was due to a sliver of light to the future, as rookie quarterback Derek Carr looked like a potential franchise quarterback. Carr, who starred at Fresno State collegiately, is a local the natives could get behind.

Though Carr may not have been selected 36th in last year’s draft because of his local roots, it certainly cannot hurt toward making Oakland a favorable spot for the Raiders franchise. Carr figures to help the Raiders improve, which should improve attendance.

But a new stadium is needed either way, as O.Co Coliseum is a wreck.

That’s what makes this agreement between Oakland and the county so important. It represents a great opportunity for the Raiders to work with Kephart and his staff to keep the Raiders franchise in Oakland.

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