The Future of the Raiders Is Tied to Getting a New Stadium

The Raiders moved back to Oakland in 1995 after 13 seasons in Los Angeles, and when they did, they made a deal with the city and county. It’s that deal that is making it even more difficult for the Raiders to get a new stadium—a deal that turned out to be bad for all the parties involved.

There are basically three options for the Raiders now: figure out a way to stay in Oakland, share (or rent) the San Francisco 49ers' new stadium in Santa Clara or move to Los Angeles. All three options have their benefits, but also their own set of challenge and drawbacks.

Naturally, most people tend to look at this issue selfishly. For example, fans in northern California would prefer the team stay in Oakland, and the fans in southern California would prefer if the team moved back to Los Angeles. The owners of the Raiders have an entirely different way of looking at the potential options.

The least preferable option for the fans is sharing the stadium in Santa Clara, but it’s also probably the best option for the team, the owners and the fans.

 

The Situation

O.co Coliseum is one of the oldest facilities in professional football. It was first opened in 1966, and a renovation was done between 1995 and 1996 to add what has become to be known as Mount Davis that blocked a great view of the Oakland hills.

New stadiums bring in additional revenue for the team and drastically increase its value. According to Forbes, the Raiders generated the least amount of revenue of any NFL team last year. The net result of this low revenue was an operating loss of $15.2 million, making the Raiders one of only three teams to lose money last year.



The Raiders also lost three times more money last year than the next-lowest team—the Detroit Lions. This all adds up to a team worth only $785 million (30th in the league), which is just $15 million more than the Jacksonville...

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