Raiders’ slow exit from Oakland painful for fans

The slow, agonizing demise of the Oakland Raiders will continue for at least one more season.

There will be one more “final” home game at the OaklandAlameda County Coliseum, on Dec. 15 against the Jacksonville Jaguars.

There have been possible “final” home games for a few years now because the Raiders have had one foot out the door since 2015, when they joined with the AFC West rival Chargers in a failed attempt to build a stadium in the Los Angeles suburb of Carson.

This time, though, it almost certainly will be farewell for one of the NFL’s most recognizable teams and fan bases.

The Raiders are scheduled to move into a gleaming new $1.8 billion, 65,000-seat stadium in Las Vegas in 2020. The climatecontrolled palace — funded in part with $750 million in public money — will make the Coliseum look like a relic.

It will be the second time the Raiders have moved since Chris Dobbins, 47, has been a fan. This time, they won’t be back. “Oh, it’s disastrous,” said Dobbins, an attorney who is cofounder and president of Save Oakland Sports. “In terms of twice in my lifetime when the team’s left, it’s very depressing.”

The Raiders have been the definition of lame ducks. Their move to Las Vegas was approved by the NFL in March 2017, but they’ve had to stay in Oakland until the new stadium is ready. They explored other options for this season, then agreed to a lease in Oakland for this year, plus an option for 2020 in case the Las Vegas stadium isn’t ready.

Fans know the end is near. “This is the ultimate ‘Hard Knocks’ for Oakland Raider fans who have now lost their team for the second time,” said Andy Dolich, a long-time sports executive and Bay Area sports fan. He was referring to the HBO se