Oakland group submits formal plan to NFL to keep Raiders in Bay Area
The NFL confirmed Wednesday that it received a resubmitted plan to build a new stadium in Oakland to keep the Raiders’ storied franchise in the Bay Area.
A league spokesman said the Fortress Investment Group gave the NFL the proposal last week for a 55,000-seat stadium costing an estimated $1.3 billion to keep the Raiders in Alameda County. The group initially submitted a plan in December that the league rejected, requesting more information.
The NFL gave no further details on the proposal it received last week.
Steve Sisolak, Clark County Commission chairman, said he did not believe the latest effort out of the Bay Area was a threat to Las Vegas luring the Raiders. He said he did not believe Raiders general managing partner Mark Davis was attempting to use leverage with Las Vegas to keep his franchise in Oakland.
“There’s a lot of disappointment in the Raiders leaving,’’ Sisolak said. “There are still some people trying to pursue keeping them. I am in regular contact with the Raiders, and I don’t believe that (staying in Oakland) is an option for them.’’
The resubmitted Fortress Group plan is not substantively different from the first version. Investors from the Fortress Group, which is working with former San Francisco 49ers star Ronnie Lott, would pony up $400 million. The league and the Raiders would provide $500 million with the remaining $200 million coming from the city of Oakland.
Two months ago, Oakland’s city council approved a resolution that permitted the city to negotiate with Lott in an effort to construct a stadium.
Raiders executives, including team president Marc Badain, will appear before the Las Vegas Stadium Authority at its March 9 meeting. A lease agreement must be hammered out between the Raiders and the stadium authority before NFL owners will vote on the proposed move.
Davis filed relocation paperwork in January to the league’s offices in New York in an effort to move the franchise to Southern Nevada. Since then, Las Vegas Sands Corp. Chairman and CEO Sheldon Adelson, who had pledged $650 million to build a $1.9 billion domed stadium, pulled out of the project. According to reports, the Raiders have identified two investor groups interested in the stadium project.
The league’s 32 owners will meet March 26 to 29 in Phoenix, where a vote might be taken on the Raiders’ relocation application. Seventy-five percent (24 votes) approval is needed before the Raiders can relocate for the second time in their history.
The Review-Journal is owned by the family of Las Vegas Sands Corp. Chairman and CEO Sheldon Adelson.
Jon Mark Saraceno can be reached at jsaraceno@reviewjournal.com. Follow @jonnysaraceno on Twitter.
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