San Antonio Officials Making New Push To Move Raiders To Texas
OAKLAND (CBS SF) – It appears the city of San Antonio is making another push to get the Oakland Raiders to Texas.
According to the San Antonio Express-News, former San Antonio Mayor Henry Cisneros and a group of government and civic leaders will be in the Bay Area on Friday to meet with Oakland Raiders officials.
"There's going to be a small group of dedicated people that understand what the NFL can do for a city, and we're going to give our best pitch," San Antonio Chamber of Commerce President Richard Perez said.
The meeting comes after Raiders owner Mark Davis met with officials in San Antonio about a possible move earlier this year.
The Raiders' owner has expressed his frustration with the team's current situation at O.co Coliseum, which the team shares with the Oakland Athletics. O.co Coliseum is the only stadium left in the U.S. that currently hosts both a pro baseball and pro football team. The Raiders are the only one among the three current Oakland teams, including the Golden State Warriors, who have indicated they want to stay in Oakland. "We're trying to get something done up here," Davis said previously. "But if we can't, we've got to get something done somewhere."
Since his meeting in San Antonio, the paper reports, the team and Davis have deemed the Alamodome an NFL-ready facility. If the team were to in fact move, the Raiders would use that as a temporary facility, before building a new stadium.
The Raiders and the city also shared the cost of a survey of fans in South and Central Texas to gauge their interest in supporting the team.
Cisneros told the newspaper he believes the possibility of the team moving to South Texas is a "very clear 50-50 proposition."
The visit comes as the City of Oakland was forming its own plan to keep the Raiders in the East Bay. A San Diego investor has indicated interest in funding a new stadium for the team as part of Oakland's "Coliseum City" plan to replace the current stadium.
"This is a very complex opportunity and to fulfill that opportunity will take some financial structuring and multiple sources of financing in addition to what we're bringing to the table," investor Floyd Kephart said last month.
The Raiders would not confirm Friday's visit by San Antonio leaders, but Davis has previously said he would like to keep the team in Oakland.
More Raiders News:
