Oakland Raiders owner Mark Davis giving San Antonio “serious” look
By Chase Ruttig
Dec 27, 2013; Alameda, CA, USA; Oakland Raiders former cornerback Nnamdi Asomugha poses at press conference to announce his retirement at Oakland Raiders Practice Facility. From left: Lester Hayes and Willie Brown and Mark Davis and Asomugha and Charles Woodson and Cliff Branch. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports
San Antonio has a history of being on speed dial for North American sports franchise owners needing to use a city to leverage themselves with their current city officials to get a new stadium deal in place, this has happened in the NFL before when the New Orleans Saints were attached to the Texas city before staying in their Louisiana home in a move that worked out quite well for the Saints franchise.
Now that Raiders owner Mark Davis has been outed in his discussions with San Antonio city officials, San Antonio Chamber of Commerce President Richard Perez went on Sirius XM NFL Radio to discuss the talks between Davis and the city. Stating that he feels that Davis is giving San Antonio a “serious look.”
“I will you tell that I felt very, very comfortable and confident that his word was true,” Perez said on Sirius XM Radio. “And he said, ‘Look, you know, I’m not telling you that I’m coming today, but I will tell you that I’m looking, and you all are definitely someone that we’re looking very closely at.’”
That comment is jarring for those who are not taking the San Antonio discussions with Davis as serious, many feeling that eventually the Raiders will stay either in Oakland or in California by coming home to Los Angeles. With San Antonio stepping up to the plate Los Angeles fans of the Raiders may need to start preparing for a potential reality of the Raiders future belonging in either Oakland or in Texas. Heading into the Judgement Day that will be the end of the Raiders lease with the Oakland Coliseum, the presence of San Antonio as an extremely interested city in holding a NFL franchise does not bode well for the confidence of California’s diehard Raiders fanbase.