NFL commissioner talks about Oakland Raiders' future
SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) -- NFL commissioner Roger Goodell was in San Francisco on Wednesday as team owners wrapped up two days of meetings. Among the topics discussed by Goodell was the future of the Oakland Raiders.
Goodell said there is no time table for Oakland to present a proposal to replace the aging O.co Coliseum, but the Raiders' owner says there is a June 21 deadline for a financing plan.
It seems to be fourth down for the city of Oakland, scrambling to hang onto the Raiders, but Goodell says he has heard nothing from the city about a new stadium proposal.
"I don't know if it's a point of frustration, but it is certainly is a point of information," Goodell said.
If Oakland has been silent, the city of Carson -- outside of Los Angeles -- is openly courting the Raiders and San Diego Chargers with a proposal to build a joint stadium. A deal to purchase the land has already been finalized. One key NFL executive has made trips to Oakland over the years.
"Each time I've gone there, I've heard that the promise is right around the corner of a master development. The time has shrunk, no results have been produced. That, to me, is going backwards," NFL Executive vice president Eric Grubman said.
However, owner Mark Davis says he wants to stay in Oakland and mentioned a long dinner meeting last week with Oakland City Council President Lynette Gibson McElhaney.
"She legitimately wants to try to work something out," Davis told the media.
McElhaney says new leadership is focused on a new plan to get to the finish line.
"We did inherit some of the frustration that I think the NFL rightly feels about some of the false starts that the city had, but I'm very optimistic. If not, cautiously optimistic, because I don't want to overpromise that we now have a path forward," McElhaney said.
Goodell and Davis were both asked about the possibility of the Raiders sharing the 49ers stadium. Levi's Stadium is built for two, but Davis made it clear he's not interested.
