In Sports — and In Divorce (Between Oakland and the Raiders) — Any Deal Is Possible If The Money Is Right

By ALAN SNEL

LVSportsBiz.com

 

If racial justice activist/former San Francisco 49ers quarterback/Nike pitchman Colin Kaepernick and the National League of No Football Collusions can work out a settlement, heck, I guess the Oakland/Las Vegas (in 2020) Raiders and the Oakland Alameda County Coliseum Authority can perhaps talk enough to reach an agreement that would allow the Raiders to squeeze out one final season by the Bay.

 

We all know divorces can be ugly.

 

Let’s review the soap opera of the nomadic Raiders, a team with a few old former girlfriends like the cities of Oakland and Los Angeles — and now Oakland again.

 

The Raiders divorced Oakland, leaving the Bay for a hot stadium in Las Vegas that’s giving them a nice tidy bounty of $750 million in free public money to build the palatial venue. Las Vegas is the young, hot-looking sports market that is the talk of the country. The Raiders could not resist the call of the subsidized stadium.

 

Just one little timing hiccup in the break-up between Oakland and the Raiders. The stadium in Las Vegas won’t be ready for Raiders consummation until July 2020.

 

But hold on. Oakland got in one final parting shot in December before the Raiders packed their bags. The old marriage mate filed a juicy antitrust lawsuit against the Raiders and the NFL, alleging the NFL team is illegally moving to Las Vegas and that the city is owed damages.

 

And then, as one would expect with an ugly divorce, it was Testosterone Time for the Raiders. Ticked off by the lawsuit, the Raiders said fine, we’ll look elsewhere for a place to play in 2019. How about downtown San Francisco where the baseball Giants call home?

 

But then emotions subside.

 

And reason and logic replace temper and pride.

 

My money is on one final season at the Oakland Coliseum for the Raiders.

 

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