The Oakland City Council on Tuesday night voted unanimously to move forward with a financial and development plan to build a $1.3 billion football stadium at the Coliseum site to keep the Raiders from moving to Las Vegas.
The Alameda County Board of Supervisors approved the plan earlier Tuesday.
Among those who stood at the podium to urge the passing of the plan were former Raiders running back Marcus Allen, a Hall of Famer, and former Raiders quarterback Rodney Peete.
“It’s important that the Raiders stay in Oakland," Allen told the council.
"We are here to fight for Oakland because there’s no place like this community," Peete added.
Former 49ers and Raiders safety Ronnie Lott leads a group of investors that has been working with city and county officials to keep the Raiders in the Bay Area.
"What’s before us is to authorize entering into negotiations for a potential deal that would still have to come back to us to approve," Councilwoman Rebecca Kaplan said.
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The plan calls for the city to invest $200 million on infrastructure in the area as well as provide land worth $150 million. The Lott Group will contribute $400 million to the project with the NFL and the Raiders contributing $500 million. The NFL has already pledged $300 million to a stadium in Oakland when it prevented the Raiders from moving to Los Angeles earlier this year.
"We understand there’s a lot of value there," Lott said. "We understand, yes, there’s going to be some challenges. We know that we got a great opportunity to finish this project."
Meanwhile, Raiders owner Mark Davis is committed to moving to Las Vegas, where a $1.9 billion stadium project has been approved. Nevada will raise $750 million from a hotel tax to fund the stadium with billionaire casino mogul Sheldon Adelson contributing $650 million and the Raiders and NFL kicking in $500 million.
The Raiders must get approval from 24 of the 32 NFL owners before being allowed to move with a vote possible as soon as January.
"I feel really confident where we’re at," Lott said. "The NFL, that’s the ticket, that’s our Super Bowl. That Super Bowl will hopefully happen in January."
NFL owners will meet to discuss relocation issues on Wednesday.
Tuesday's council meeting was disrupted for a time during the public comment session when an irate woman shoved a council member, ranted at police officers and others in attendance, and then left the meeting on her own.
No injuries were reported.
NBC Bay Area's Cheryl Hurd contributed to this report.
