Raiders Owner Mark Davis fields questions from reporters at NFL Owners Meetings in San Francisco. AP Photo.
National Football League team owners and high-ranking executives, including Raiders Owner Mark Davis, met for two days this week in San Francisco to discuss a plethora of topics including changes to the point after try. A group of Raiders fans gathered outside the Ritz-Carlton Hotel in an effort to express to the attendees that they want the Silver and Black to remain in Oakland.
Davis spoke to reporters and fans just outside the venue.
According to an article written by the LA Times' reporter Sam Farmer, "The Raiders would be willing to cover $500 million of a new stadium in Oakland — including a $200-million loan from the NFL — but would want Oakland to provide the land, the surrounding infrastructure (such as freeway off-ramps), and the remaining $400 million on an estimated venue cost of $900 million."
Raiders Owner Mark Davis told the gathering of fans, "I'm trying all I can do to keep this team in Oakland. We're trying. I'm not trying to divide any fan base. Every time I talk to anybody, I'm trying to stay in Oakland. That's my No. 1 choice, but we can't do this forever. I really appreciate you all, I really do."
Davis told a gathering of reporters, "Selfishly we'd like to have that land all to ourselves, but we'd like the A's to stay, we'd like the Raiders to stay. We'd like to build a baseball and a football stadium, maintain the parking that we have so we have a game-day experience with tailgating and everything else. But I don't want to build a football stadium in the corner of a parking lot, leave the current Coliseum standing, build a beautiful new stadium and then be in a construction zone for the next three or four years while they tear down the Coliseum where it stands and build a new baseball stadium.''
According to published reports, the city of Oakland and Alameda County are set to present a preliminary financing plan June 21.
More from Raiders Owner Mark Davis:
"We're trying to get something done in Oakland. If we can get something done in Oakland, we're staying in Oakland. I've said that continually and consistently for the last five years."
"I really don't want to get into the negotiations and those kinds of things, but we're working with the city of Oakland and the county of Alameda trying to come up with a deal to stay in Oakland."
"I'm trying to get something right for the Raiders, for the long-term future for the Raiders, which would be great for the Raiders and the NFL. That's really what my plans are."
"I had dinner with the president of the city council [Lynette McElhaney] Friday night. Spent three and half hours with her, and she legitimately wants to work something out."
"I want to keep the Raiders in Oakland if I can. I really do. But we have to be able to compete. And to financially compete and get players and things like that, we went through free agency and everybody's talking about how the facilities, the stadium, everything else were a big component of what free agents thought about coming to play for the Raiders. We have to bring that up to date."
"I'm hoping they come in with a financing plan [on June 21] that works that can get us a stadium built here in Oakland."
