The latest news in the seemingly never-ending story of the Oakland Raiders Lease Extension process and negotiations is that the draft of the lease agreement is being re-written as of this writing, and with the potential for a lawsuit in mind (in part).
“We are exchanging red-line versions of the draft language,” said Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum Joint Powers Authority Executive Director Scott McKibben, “but, ultimately, it will come down to the lawsuit issue.”
“The lawsuit issue” refers to the much talked about and anticipated lawsuit that the City of Oakland is planning with the work of sports lawyer James Quinn and a team of attorneys based in New York City. I called Jim Quinn directly, today, and he said “We’re making progress, that’s all I can tell ya.”
However, what is known (and I have been told) is that in July, in closed session, the Oakland City Council gave Oakland City Attorney Barbara Parker the right to file the lawsuit. In other words, the Oakland City Council approved the process of starting the lawsuit, already. That’s news which should not come as music to the Raiders.
Oakland Raiders Owner Mark Davis and Oakland Raiders President Marc Badain have been of the collective mind that they want a clause in the proposed lease extension such that the Raiders can bow out of the deal if the City files a lawsuit. What the Raiders don’t seem to realize is the City of Oakland has already started that process.
The Raiders keep saber-rattling about leaving Oakland, but what I’m discovering is they’ve pissed off so many people, what they say doesn’t matter. Rather than the Oakland Raiders waiting to be fawned on, the organization might take a try at a more humble approach.
In Las Vegas, No Super Bowl And No Bank of America Financing?
On an aside, one matter of concern to this YouTube vlogger (Zennie62 on YouTube for my shameless plug) is that the Raiders have not officially announced they received that $850 million line of credit from Bank of America, that a major part of the Las Vegas Stadium finacing. There was no press release, no announcement, nothing – vastly different from the whole bond issue situation. That money was to “replace” the $650 million that Las Vegas Sands Founder Sheldon Adelson was going to put in but backed out of doing in 2017. That BofA money is something the Raiders would have to pay back, and with interest, if they got it.
What happened to Bank of America?
Stay tuned.