If rumors capture you imaginations as you ruminate about the future of the Oakland Raiders’ Stadium and the abundance of whirlwind theories there was another recent article in the St. Louis Post Dispatch written by Bernie Miklasz in which he outlines an captivating scenario.
The city of St. Louis has made it no secret about its seriousness to build a new riverfront stadium and to keep the Rams in the Midwestern city. They have worked hard to assemble a plan that is feasible and enticing to most. But Rams owner Stan Kroenke isn’t taking their calls. Why? He’ made it quite clear he sees, at least his future, in Southern California. or so the word on the street may have you believe.
There are a plethora of theories and rumors in the public vernacular so why not one more.
The city of St. Louis wants their riverfront stadium deal and they have assembled a financing package including $400 million in public money. The NFL finds the proposal compelling and substantial and it more than reluctant to see an NFL team snub such a promising deal.
Roger Goodell and gang have publically lauded the efforts St. Louis has made in moving forward with a stadium deal and don’t want to see the time and money simply fall by the wayside.
Kroenke however may have other ideas and should he choose to go elsewhere what solutions do the NFL have to counter such a move? Miklasz’ theory goes like this:
Kroenke will sell the Rams. There is at the same time a horde of local investors that are reticent to see the Rams go anywhere else. Upon such a sale Kroenke could then pursue the purchase the Raiders from Mark Davis and, once the deal is final, move his new team to his yet to be build dream stadium in Inglewood California.
A few holes exist in this synopsis. The biggest being that Davis would ever be compliant with such a stretch of conjecture. Not to mention there would be unimaginable dissent from Raider fans who really get shorted in such a scenario.
What is abundantly amiss as the reporter continue to wax prescient is any indication of Davis’ interest. In addition to the very unlikely probability that Raiders Owner Davis would sell his legacy team, the rest owners in the league could also kill such a deal by simply voting to not grant a relocation permit to Kroenke.
Credit must be paid to those who conjure up such imaginative spins.
Keep in mind though that the deal in Oakland, which keeps the Raiders there, is souring fast. The chances that the Raiders do not secure their stadium deal under the guise of owner Davis are growing exponentially by the day. Alameda County Supervisor Nate Smiley, no supporter of the proposed Oakland stadium proposal to begin with, recently shared his thoughts in no uncertain terms...
“The Raiders have indicated, and they continue to indicate that Oakland is their preference. They want to be here. But, once again, I think it’s going to boil down to who’s prepared to put up what type of money to keep the Raiders here. The Raiders are looking for a contribution from the public sector, and that could include infrastructure, bond indebtedness, as well as the land, and I just don’t know what the appetite is from the public sector to do all that.”
NFL Vice President Eric Grubman is essentially echoing the same pessimism about an Oakland deal for the Raiders.
“I have had multiple visits to Oakland, and in those visits, each of those for the past three years, I’ve visited with public officials, and I feel like we’ve gone backwards. I just feel like we’ve lost years and gone backwards, and that usually doesn’t bode well.”
In the end and regardless of the millions committed to upgrade local training facilities, Mark Davis and the Raider Organization are left to watch somewhat helplessly, given their current proposal, as the officials in Oakland dig their feet in
the worst part of it all is that the Raider fans are also left to sit and watch the various scenarios unfold. Of course they could rally and show a mass of public support for the favorable deals that keep their team in Oakland but by the time an actual deal is done it may just be an exercise in futility.
For now we wait. In the meantime keep your eyes and ears open for the next theory to make its way into the ongoing stream of conjecture. At least it makes for entertaining reading.
read the first part of this article
Scott Davis Los Angeles Raider on new Oakland Raider stadium possibilities
The city of St. Louis has made it no secret about its seriousness to build a new riverfront stadium and to keep the Rams in the Midwestern city. They have worked hard to assemble a plan that is feasible and enticing to most. But Rams owner Stan Kroenke isn’t taking their calls. Why? He’ made it quite clear he sees, at least his future, in Southern California. or so the word on the street may have you believe.
There are a plethora of theories and rumors in the public vernacular so why not one more.
The city of St. Louis wants their riverfront stadium deal and they have assembled a financing package including $400 million in public money. The NFL finds the proposal compelling and substantial and it more than reluctant to see an NFL team snub such a promising deal.
Roger Goodell and gang have publically lauded the efforts St. Louis has made in moving forward with a stadium deal and don’t want to see the time and money simply fall by the wayside.
Kroenke however may have other ideas and should he choose to go elsewhere what solutions do the NFL have to counter such a move? Miklasz’ theory goes like this:
Kroenke will sell the Rams. There is at the same time a horde of local investors that are reticent to see the Rams go anywhere else. Upon such a sale Kroenke could then pursue the purchase the Raiders from Mark Davis and, once the deal is final, move his new team to his yet to be build dream stadium in Inglewood California.
A few holes exist in this synopsis. The biggest being that Davis would ever be compliant with such a stretch of conjecture. Not to mention there would be unimaginable dissent from Raider fans who really get shorted in such a scenario.
What is abundantly amiss as the reporter continue to wax prescient is any indication of Davis’ interest. In addition to the very unlikely probability that Raiders Owner Davis would sell his legacy team, the rest owners in the league could also kill such a deal by simply voting to not grant a relocation permit to Kroenke.
Credit must be paid to those who conjure up such imaginative spins.
Keep in mind though that the deal in Oakland, which keeps the Raiders there, is souring fast. The chances that the Raiders do not secure their stadium deal under the guise of owner Davis are growing exponentially by the day. Alameda County Supervisor Nate Smiley, no supporter of the proposed Oakland stadium proposal to begin with, recently shared his thoughts in no uncertain terms...
“The Raiders have indicated, and they continue to indicate that Oakland is their preference. They want to be here. But, once again, I think it’s going to boil down to who’s prepared to put up what type of money to keep the Raiders here. The Raiders are looking for a contribution from the public sector, and that could include infrastructure, bond indebtedness, as well as the land, and I just don’t know what the appetite is from the public sector to do all that.”
NFL Vice President Eric Grubman is essentially echoing the same pessimism about an Oakland deal for the Raiders.
“I have had multiple visits to Oakland, and in those visits, each of those for the past three years, I’ve visited with public officials, and I feel like we’ve gone backwards. I just feel like we’ve lost years and gone backwards, and that usually doesn’t bode well.”
In the end and regardless of the millions committed to upgrade local training facilities, Mark Davis and the Raider Organization are left to watch somewhat helplessly, given their current proposal, as the officials in Oakland dig their feet in
the worst part of it all is that the Raider fans are also left to sit and watch the various scenarios unfold. Of course they could rally and show a mass of public support for the favorable deals that keep their team in Oakland but by the time an actual deal is done it may just be an exercise in futility.
For now we wait. In the meantime keep your eyes and ears open for the next theory to make its way into the ongoing stream of conjecture. At least it makes for entertaining reading.
read the first part of this article
Scott Davis Los Angeles Raider on new Oakland Raider stadium possibilities