The City of Oakland has been dragging its feet on the issue of the Raiders getting a new stadium (the O.co was sold out in its first of eight home dates Sunday) and now it appears that the mayor of the City can’t be bothered to show up to meetings with the NFL on the matter on time.
Vic Tafur of the San Francisco Chronicle was the first to report on the absence of Oakland Mayor Jean Quan as the Chronicle reported on what was supposed to be a private meeting between the City, Mark Davis and the NFL.
Tafur confirmed that Raiders owner Mark Davis, along with Oakland and Alameda County officials, met at the team headquarters last week to update a delegation from the National Football League on the prospects for a new stadium.
The Chronicle report claimed that the money for the stadium is still not there.
“The fact is that Davis doesn’t have finances like, say, a Jerry Jones (owner of the Dallas Cowboys) to swing a stadium deal on his own,” one person who was at the meeting told the Chronicle’s Phillip Matier And Andrew Ross. “We’d have to ask the voters to help.”
And while no one said it at the meeting, everyone knows the chances of voters helping out with a new stadium deal – while they are still paying off $20 million a year for the 1990s renovation of the old one – are slim to none.
None of the attendees of the private meeting would speak to the Chronicle on the record, but they did divulge that the lack of punctuality from Mayor Quan did not boost spirits amongst the league.
“She arrived 20 minutes late,” said our attendee, Tafur reported. “She apologized, saying she was held up by a phone call.”
Mark Davis wants a modest stadium in the 50, 000 seating range. His lack of personal funds might threaten the proud tradition of the Raiders as it appears more and more likely that the City of Oakland doesn’t want to keep the Raiders (and the A’s) in the East Bay for their loyal fans. If Davis is forced to find a city that is willing to bring the NFL to town, he may be forced to move the Raider Nation for another time.