Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf isn’t ready to let the Raiders go. She appeared on KTVU this yesterday and laid out the plan for the Raiders to stay in Oakland. She said the plan is to renew the lease at O.co Coliseum to give more time to negotiate a deal for a new stadium. The exciting story isn’t the Raiders remaining in Oakland so she is understanding of the why the team is looking elsewhere; though she expressed that the Las Vegas option wasn’t viable. From PFT:
On the question of whether the Raiders’ flirtations with various other cities were more about leverage than finding a new home, Schaaf didn’t show her hand. “We’re waiting for Mark to explore his options, which he absolutely has the right to do,” she said.
Moving a team is a tough call. To an outsider, stadium deals seem like a sad reason for a city to lose a piece of their history, but being an adult and understanding the grand scheme of things, it’s real.