Oakland Athletics Roundup: Raiders Clear Another Hurdle in LA Relocation Process

Stadium Hopes Continue To Revolve Around Raiders
Oakland Athletics Roundup: Monday, January 11

Over the weekend, National Football League Commissioner Roger Goodell released a lengthy report to all 32 NFL teams, in which he called the current stadiums of Oakland, San Diego and St. Louis “unsatisfactory and inadequate”.

Goodell also voiced a myriad of other opinions, included that the clubs’ home markets had failed to “develop their proposals sufficiently to ensure the retention” of their respective NFL teams.

For those who may not be on 24/7 Stadium Watch, here’s a refresher on what the potentially-Los-Angeles-bound teams have been up to:

• St. Louis proposed a $1.1 billion riverfront stadium, which would be more than adequate for the Rams franchise. However, they requested $100 million over the league maximum for NFL assistance. The city committed to finance $150 million of the project in December, after a controversial vote by the city’s Board of Aldermen. The board had to first invalidate a St. Louis ordinance that would have required voters to approve the project, which created a lot of pushback from opponents who argued that the city would not benefit enough to warrant that much funding. An additional $250 million in public funding is also part of the proposal, but the state legislature could block a portion of that financing. The primary deficiency with the St. Louis plan, however, is that the NFL is just not willing to contribute the full $300 million that the city has requested from them.

• Meanwhile, San Diego proposed a $1.1 billion stadium, which would have included $350 million in public funds from city and county sources ($150 million from the county and $200 million from San Diego), as well as the league-maximum $200 million contribution from the NFL. But the earliest that the public can vote on the proposal is June, which led to the proposal being deemed insufficient by Goodell.

More from White Cleat Beat

• Zach Logue yet another disappointing Oakland A’s trade return
• Luis Barrera heading to familiar foe in Los Angeles Angels
• Looking back at Ruben Sierra with the Oakland A’s
• San Francisco Giants showing Oakland A’s offseason could be worse
• Lucas Luetge what Oakland A’s need in bullpen

• Finally, Oakland hasn’t made an official proposal, wisely choosing not to spend hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars on a stadium that will provide only minimum-wage level jobs rather than make any significant economic impact on the city. Oakland has enough problems to worry about without spending $100-$200 million on a stadium.

While this might be bad news for the Raiders and their fans, it is good news for the Athletics. Although the owners still have to vote on relocation approval, and only two of the three teams are headed to Los Angeles, the Raiders have cleared another hurdle in the process. Since the A’s ability to build a new stadium largely hinges on the Raiders leaving, Lew Wolff and the rest of the organization will be holding their breath until the vote is over.

In Case You Missed It:

Five Factors for a Successful 2016 Season – Staff writer Casey Witt takes a look at the five factors that will make or break the A’s 2016 season. What must they do to keep things interesting all year?

A’s Relievers are Flocking to Seattle – The Athletics’ bullpen was a major issue in 2015, but the Seattle Mariners are willing to give several of those pitchers a fresh start. Andrew Dambrauskas highlights what to watch for as Ryan Cook, Cody Martin and Evan Scribner pitch for the A’s division rivals up north.

The Forgotten Champions – The 1981 A’s – In a nostalgic flashback, Rich Paloma reminds us of the strike-shortened 1981 season. A stellar rotation, a strong lineup – could they have gone all the way if not for the mid-season disruption?

What Happened to Tyler Ladendorf? – Samantha Riley takes a look at prospect Tyler Ladendorf, and proposes a platoon with Sam Fuld if the oft-injured Coco Crisp is forced to miss time again this season.

#Athletics

Next: The Top 50 Players in Oakland Athletics History

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