Oakland group hopes to launch NFL’S first black-owned franchise

An Oakland-based group wants to create the NFL’S first Black-owned franchise, and that proposal is expected to land at league headquarters in New York on Tuesday.

With the Raiders having relocated this year to Las Vegas, Oakland is again without a franchise, just as it was during the Raiders’ tenure in Los Angeles from 1982-94.

So begins a daunting quest by the African-american Sports & Entertainment Committee, which will file an application

with the NFL on Tuesday to create a Black-owned franchise among a privately financed group seeking to play at the Oakland Coliseum, as

reported by Sfgate.com.

A NFL spokesman did not immediately return comment.

It is unknown who specifically would comprise that Oakland group’s ownership and its capacity to cover a NFL expansion cost

that easily could surpass a $1 billion.

“It would just be such a historic opportunity, the

NFL wanting to support the African-american community and an opportunity for economic equity,” Ray

Bobbitt, an Oakland business owner, told Sfgate about his group’s proposal. “...This is an opportunity for an entire community to establish an economic vehicle for itself and be self-sustaining.”

Bobbitt led a fan group

called “We Stand With Oakland” in 2018 that unsuccessfully tried to prevent the Raiders’ move to Vegas. He did not respond to a phone message Monday seeking comment from this news organization.