Mayor claims ‘progress’ in Oakland Raiders stadium deal
By Cory Buck
The Oakland Raiders need a new stadium and owner Mark Davis will have it in Oakland or elsewhere. The mayor of Oakland remains determined to make sure that stadium remains in the current home of the Raiders, despite slow progress on that front.
Jean Quan, Mayor of Oakland, sent out a series of tweets explaining the city’s stance on the stadium issue.
Oakland is working to help build new ballparks for both the Raiders and the A's, and we're seeing progress on both fronts.
— Jean Quan (@jeanquan) July 30, 2014
We are making continued progress at the table with the Raiders and the world's third-largest real estate firm talking about Coliseum City.
— Jean Quan (@jeanquan) July 30, 2014
The 10-year lease extension for the A's includes a commitment from the team's owners to sit down to talk building a new Oakland ballpark.
— Jean Quan (@jeanquan) July 30, 2014
Unfortunately, that could all be construed as mere lip service for Davis and the rest of ownership, who hasn’t given a ringing endorsement of the city’s handling of stadium talks to this point.
The San Antonio visit could just be a move for leverage, meant to urge the city forward in talks after they just catered to the baseball team in town, or it could be a legitimate look by ownership at an alternative to Oakland, or California in general.
Either way, it’s Oakland’s move and if they’re serious about keeping the Raiders in town, the city will have to pony up with actions over words.