USA TODAY International Edition
Raiders owner’s sole focus is Vegas
Oakland disrespected team, Davis says
Feeling disrespected and eager to secure his franchise’s long- term home, Raiders owner Mark Davis is done with Oakland, at least as long as his Las Vegas dream is alive.
Standing in a hotel lobby shortly after giving a brief update to his fellow NFL owners Wednesday, Davis said he had made a commitment to Nevada Gov. Brian Sandoval, who Monday signed a bill the state Legislature approved last week for $ 750 million in public funding toward a nearly $ 2 billion stadium project in downtown Vegas.
The NFL seems to back Davis’ decision to cut off talks with Oakland leaders because he tried to get a stadium deal done there before applying to move to Los Angeles this year, even as the league engages with those leading renewed efforts to keep the Raiders.
“My thing is I’ve never played cities against each other,” Davis told USA TODAY Sports. “Even when we were doing the L. A. thing with the Chargers, Dean ( Spanos, Chargers owner) and I both had in our deal between us that if either of us got something in our own markets, then our deal was off and we were going back.
“So, Oakland at that time had the opportunity — they were really negotiating against themselves, and they really didn’t want to do anything. They gave a five- page letter as their offer to the NFL, and we ended up losing the vote to go ( to L. A.), and they sent us back to get something done ( in Oakland). We got a one- year lease ( on the Oakland Coliseum) with two one- year options, and I had a press conference and talked then about moving into the future. A week later, I got a call from one of the board of supervisors, said, ‘ Mark, sorry, but the deal that we negotiated with you is off. We’ve got to raise the rent, and we’re raising it three times.’
“Unfortunately, it just showed disrespect to the Raider organization and maybe just a little bit of false leverage on their part or whatever. So we have the oneyear lease with the two one- year options, and we’ll probably play that out. But then we had to go look for a real home, and Nevada came through.”
Questions about the proposed move to Vegas remain, as the 32 owners — 24 of whom must vote for relocation — wait for market studies, details on casino magnate Sheldon Adelson’s $ 650 million contribution toward the project and other information.
But New York Giants owner John Mara replied, “Sure,” when asked if that work could be completed in time for a January vote. And NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said there was no solution at this point in Oakland, where Mayor Libby Schaaf is leading a charge to keep the team that is likely months away from being able to produce a proposal.
Asked if Davis was required to keep talking to Oakland to satisfy the relocation criteria, Goodell said, “I think Mark has given his best effort to try to do that. We are engaging also. … Mark’s expressed his frustration about the lack of progress.”
Late Wednesday, Schaaf released a statement saying she “will not enter a bidding war with Nevada using public funds” but will “remain focused on working out concrete deal terms that give the NFL’s owners an Oakland option to consider. I believe that in partnership with Alameda County and the team ( Hall of Fame safety) Ronnie Lott has assembled, we can offer a serious plan in the coming weeks that is fair to the Raiders, the league, the fans and the Oakland taxpayers to whom I am most responsible.”
A Las Vegas stadium probably wouldn’t be ready until 2020, Davis said. That would leave the team to play out the option years in 2017 and 2018 on its lease and then figure out another one- year lease “unless they wanted us for another year” in Oakland, he said.
Davis said he wouldn’t lock the door on Oakland. But he made clear he wouldn’t be a part of those efforts as long as the public funding in Nevada is on the table.
“I made a commitment to the governor,” Davis said. “I told him if they come through with the funding that they were talking about, that I would do everything possible to get there. I was not using it as leverage, I told him. I looked him right in the eye and said, ‘ That’s not the way I do business.’ ”