San Francisco

Goodell: Oakland Stadium Proposal “Necessary to Have Soon”

SAN FRANCISCO – NFL commissioner Roger Goodell said he hasn’t heard anything new on the status of stadium efforts to keep the Raiders in Oakland.

“Oakland I have not heard anything from,” Goodell said Wednesday at the conclusion of the NFL spring owners meetings. “I do not have any an update on that information on that. Is it a source of frustration that I haven’t heard anything from Oakland? No, I wouldn’t say that. I would certainly say it’s a source of information.”

Translation: no news isn’t good news.

It offers stark contrast to stadium efforts in San Diego, which produced a task force stadium proposal to keep the Chargers at home. It offers stark contract to stadium efforts in St. Louis, which have generated significant momentum in recent months.

The possibility of the Raiders sharing Levi’s Stadium with the 49ers was broached again this week at the Ritz Carlton hotel, and owner Mark Davis shot it down.

“Mark wants a long-term stadium solution,” Goodell said. “That’s what he’s always been focused on. He would like to have it be here in the Bay Area, in Oakland.”

The Raiders and Chargers have an alternate plan going on in Carson, which has been entitled by the city and seems to be on a fast track. Should home market efforts fail, Carson could be an option for both teams.

A separate proposal has been issued by the St. Louis Rams in Inglewood, and the NFL said that facility would be immediately housed for two teams. That is a possible landing spot for the Raiders, though it’s hard to imagine the Rams, Raiders and Chargers all playing in Southern California.

Oakland efforts seem behind other options, and the NFL has put serious heat on the East Bay to pick up the pace.

“We’ don’t have a deadline on time, but this is not a new issue,” Goodell said. “This is something where the Raiders have been working on a stadium for years. This is something that has been very publicly debated, so we need to have a proposal from the people here about how we’re going to keep the Raiders in Oakland and do it on a basis that not only helps the community but also is a good fit for the team in the long term.

"That proposal is necessary to have soon."

Contact Us