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Raiders most likely to play at Levi’s Stadium or Oracle Park in 2019 [report]

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© Jay Biggerstaff | 2018 Dec 30


We’re now two weeks removed from the 2018 regular season, and the Raiders still don’t have a home for 2019.

The most likely scenario is that they stay in the Bay Area according to a report Saturday from Jason LaCanfora of CBS, who says that Levi’s Stadium and Oracle Park stand as the most plausible landing spots according to league sources.

The team’s lease agreement with the Oakland Coliseum expired and was not renewed at the end of the regular season, despite the fact that the team’s new home in Las Vegas will not be completed until 2020. A number of locations both in the Bay Area and otherwise have been kicked around as possible short term homes.

While Levi’s Stadium has always been the most practical option, Raiders owner Mark Davis has been opposed to sharing the stadium. That might not matter as the weeks go by, with the NFL wanting a solution for the Raiders by shortly after the Super Bowl.

Via LaCanfora:

“Raiders officials are against having to play in the 49ers stadium, but at this point owner Mark Davis has limited leverage. From the NFL’s standpoint, Levi’s Stadium makes far and away the most sense and is the easiest in terms of logistics, including technology and staffing issues. One source with knowledge of the situation said that he would strongly bet on the team playing next season at one of those two stadiums. It is still not out of the realm of possibility that the team plays one more season in Oakland, though the issues with the lease and the city’s lawsuit against the Raiders have deeply complicated the matter.”

The Raiders out of market options seem less plausible at this point. There is limited support in the league office for the team playing at Qualcomm Stadium in San Diego. Plans to play in Reno and London remain fraught with logistical issues.

“The Raiders don’t want to play at Levi’s, but from the league’s standpoint this really would be a layup,” a source told CBS. “All of the infrastructure is already there. It would be the cheapest and the easiest.

“If I was a betting man, I’d bet on them playing in San Francisco.”