The last-ditch effort to keep the Raiders in Oakland isn’t likely to prevail. Owner Mark Davis wants to move to Las Vegas, and there has been nothing offered by the team’s current home to get Davis to pass on $750 million in free money to build a stadium in Nevada.
The latest attempt, a privately-backed proposal from a group led by Ronnie Lott, is being viewed in league circles as not a viable alternative. Lott has taken the case to the people in an effort to make it seem more viable. Or, perhaps, to make sure everyone realizes that a relocation should be blamed not on the local politicians but on Davis.
"[W]hile the Raiders may be publicly loved, they are privately owned,” Lott writes in an item appearing in the East Bay Times. “We can’t make the Raiders stay. Instead, we must show them why they should stay. A new stadium, a thriving economy, a region of unmatched diversity and creativity and a long history with the best fans in sports.”
They will stay only if the deal makes as much or more sense than moving. Currently, that’s not the case. The fact that Lott’s group is trying to generate public support and/or to apply public pressure underscores that reality.
Lott’s group also may be trying to put together a package sufficiently attractive to get enough owners to press pause on the process. But this assumes that owners will be willing to pick a fight with Davis, who could make a strong case under the antitrust laws that nine independent businesses have no business telling him where to do business.
