Oakland Raiders may tear down Coliseum despite A’s deal

The Oakland Raiders are currently in talks to demolish the O.co Coliseum next year to pave the way for a new stadium to be built to house the NFL team. The news is shocking the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum Authority after just signing a deal with the Oakland Athletics to keep them in the Coliseum for the next ten years.

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According to SF Gate, the talks were revealed in a memo to mayor Jean Quan from planners of the city-backed Coliseum City retail project. Representatives have stated that they expect to reach a deal with the Raiders by the end of this summer. The deal would lead to an opening of a new football site in the same location by 2018. To finish the project on time, the current stadium must be demolished by the summer of 2015.

The Raiders are confident that the deal will go through to the extent that they are even in the process of finding a new location for the team to play while the new stadium is being built.

Due to the deal the A’s just signed, if ratification occurs, the team will receive a two year notice to vacate prior to any construction beginning. This would delay the timeline mentioned above and according to Coliseum City attorney Zacharay Watterman, “frustrate efforts to develop the site and disrupt the ability to deliver a stadium for the Raiders and the ancillary developments adjacent to that stadium.”

Despite the talks being underway, funding may prove detrimental to the plans. Oakland City councilman Larry Reid said that the tearing down of the stadium is “totally preposterous” and that “this is either smoke and mirrors, or they are on crack.” Part of his reasoning behind the statement is that they still owe around $180 million on the stadium after renovations in the 1990’s brought the Raiders back from Los Angeles.