The Oakland Raiders are without a lease to play NFL Football games at the Oakland Alameda County Coliseum Stadium as of Friday night September 21st This news after the Oakland Alameda County Coliseum Joint Powers Authority met the morning of this same Friday September 21, and did not signal they reached an agreement with the Raiders on an extended lease. If you did not see the full stream of the meeting, here it is:
Zennie62Media Vlogger Richard Haick said to this blogger that he was told to expect something to “get done” in the form of a lease with the Raiders by the Ocotober Coliseum JPA Board Meeting. That next date of a Coliseum JPA Board meeting would mark just over one year of talks about a lease extension without getting one done.
After the National Football League Owners voted 31 to the lone “no vote” by Miami Dolphins Owner Stephen Ross on March 26th 2017 to allow the Raiders to pursue what has been called a “conditional relocation” to Las Vegas (‘conditional” because it contains so many financial risks to the Raiders it could fall apart like a house of cards). After the vote, a number of Oakland and Alameda County Officials wanted the Raiders to be immediately evicted from the Coliseum – as did the vast majority of Raider Nation. But time passed, and cooler heads prevailed, and talks of a lease extension started in July of last year.
Then, just as it looked like a lease might get drafted, the threat of a lawsuit by the Coliseum JPA started to look like a reality when New York lawyers James W. Quinn (Jim Quinn) and Eric Hochstadt flew out for a fan-driven press conference. The energy for a lawsuit that was built up by Oakland Raiders fan groups Forever Oakland and We Stand With Oakland, and Save Oakland Sports, was eventually halted by the Coliseum JPA Board toward the end of the year, and becausee it elected to punt on the idea of actually moving forward on suing the Raiders.
Then, in January, the Coliseum JPA, now with the legendary Ignacio De La Fuente on its board, took another go at a lease with the Raiders. That initial effort sparked a game of chicken (with the threat of a lawsuit versus the lease extension held up that saw its last stop at 1220 Harbor Bay Parkway, before winding up back at the office of the Coliseum JPA as of last week.
And with the game of chicken still very active.
Stay tuned.