New Football Stadium makes sense for the Oakland Raiders
November 24, 2013; Oakland, CA, USA; General view of O.co Coliseum during the third quarter between the Oakland Raiders and the Tennessee Titans. The Titans defeated the Raiders 23-19. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports
Let’s face it, this is a subject that will be discussed heavily until it reaches the final decision. I have had my own opinions about the building of a new stadium within the city limits of Oakland, CA. To me, a new football stadium makes sense for the Oakland Raiders, and it makes sense for the City of Oakland.
The biggest problem is the mindset of Mayor Jean Quan and her staff. Simply put, they are thinking with a one track mind. The City of Oakland doesn’t want to fork out any money to help build a new facility. As a matter of fact, Mayor Quan has stated several times that she doesn’t want to take any money away from Education or Crime Prevention. She needs to look at it from a different angle.
Again, a new stadium project will generate revenue that will benefit the City of Oakland. Not just the business owners or politicians, but it will benefit the City of Oakland’s improvement programs geared toward Education and Crime Prevention. This is a subject that I touched on in June of 2013 and again in September of 2013. See both articles attached below for my full opinion:
https://justblogbaby.com/2013/06/23/new-stadium-for-oakland-raiders/
With new reports out now about Oakland Raiders Owner Mark Davis offering up $400 million dollars of his money to assist in the building process, this should help to sway the decision in favor of a new stadium in Oakland, CA. Not to mention the fact that the NFL has already stated they would provide $200 million dollars to the City of Oakland in order to facilitate this deal (September of 2013 meeting between Mayor Quan, Owner Mark Davis, and the NFL).
Now, Mayor Quan is staring at an offer of $600 million dollars from the Oakland Raiders and the NFL. A new stadium complex will cost anywhere from $1 billion dollars up to $5 billion dollars (depending on whether or not a new baseball and basketball stadium are included), but this should show Mayor Quan that the Raiders, and the NFL, would like to stay in Oakland.
I haven’t even touched on the possibility of Raider Nation getting involved to help donate to the cause as well (see June article above), but that is a possibility we can set aside and table for later. Although, there will always be a large contingency of Raider Nation who will be the builders/workers on the project itself. For, Raider Nation is blue-collar, and we all work for a living in some capacity. Yet, we love our team and will do what it takes to get it done.
Where does this leave us/the team/the City of Oakland? Quite frankly, and stated by Owner Mark Davis himself, in the 11th hour. Waiting, that’s what this deal is doing. It’s waiting to get done. People are dragging their feet, and it’s time for them to start walking in the right direction.
Along with the money provided by the Oakland Raiders and the NFL, there are also financial backers willing to provide their own money to help create a new atmosphere in the City of Oakland. A new atmosphere that would be generated should a stadium deal be reached. The money is there Mayor Quan, do something about it! It just makes sense to build a new stadium in the City of Oakland, and that’s all that needs to be said.