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Raiders will remain at Oakland Coliseum in 2016, get additional NFL loan money for new stadium

It's time to start talking about what happens if the Raiders actually do evict the Oakland Athletics.

By Jeremy F. Koo Updated
Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

The Oakland Raiders have lost their bid to move to Los Angeles and will remain at the Oakland Coliseum for the 2016-17 NFL season, according to multiple reports from the NFL owners' meetings in Houston.

National Football League owners have voted to approve a proposal to allow the St. Louis Rams to move immediately to Los Angeles, taking up temporary residence at the Los Angeles Coliseum pending the completion of an Inglewood stadium. The San Diego Chargers will have the first right to join the Rams in Los Angeles, though this new deal allows them to continue to try to work out a stadium deal in San Diego and not move right away.

The NFL gave the Raiders an additional incentive to acquiesce to this compromise proposal:

Under the terms of the Oakland Athletics' 10-year lease at the Oakland Coliseum that runs through 2024, the Joint Powers Authority must provide the A's two years notice to vacate if they approve an Oakland Raiders stadium plan that results in the demolition of the Coliseum. While at present the Raiders do not have a viable stadium plan at the Coliseum, the additional loan possibilities from the NFL to build could put the Raiders closer to one, at least.

The "two years notice" could actually be closer to three years, depending on the timing of any move, according to Newballpark.org:

Example: If the A's provide notice on January 1, 2016, the lease ends on December 31, 2018. If they provide notice after 1/1/16, termination doesn't occur until 2019.

In Oakland, meanwhile, Mayor Libby Schaaf is beginning to make noises about the toxic Howard Terminal site again, according to the San Francisco Chronicle, but A's managing owner Lew Wolff was not ready to comment just yet:

Reached Tuesday, Wolff remained as noncommittal as ever.

"You are catching me in the middle of a six- to eight-month study period," he said. "We are studying all the options --- including the Coliseum and Laney College --- and we just want to complete our analysis."

Following the L.A. announcement, Wolff released the following statement:

The Raiders could also try to move to another city, such as San Antonio or even San Diego:

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Earlier Tuesday, the NFL Committee on Los Angeles opportunities endorsed by a 5-1 vote the proposal of the San Diego Chargers and Oakland Raiders to move to a site in Carson, California. In the first ballot, however, NFL owners appeared to reject that recommendation in favor of the proposal by Dallas Cowboys owner to have the Rams and Chargers move to Inglewood together:

Immediately after the first vote, intense sidebar discussions ensued with the ownership groups of the teams petitioning to move to Los Angeles:

After these meetings, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell returned to the other owners, apparently with word of a compromise proposal:

After a break, the owners met to work out the details of timing when the Chargers might move to Los Angeles, perhaps hoping that the Chargers could still work out a stadium deal with the City of San Diego.

This is a breaking news story. Check back for further details.

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