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 Oakland
Raiders to stay put for 2016 season
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[February 12, 2016]
SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Officials
for the Oakland Raiders said on Thursday that they have reached a
one-year lease extension agreement, keeping the team in the San
Francisco Bay Area city for the upcoming National Football League
season.
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 Raiders Owner Mark Davis told a news conference that its agreement
with the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum Joint Powers Authority also
includes one-year extension options for the following two years to
stay at O.co Coliseum.
"My heart is here in Oakland, and if we can get something done,
that's what I'm trying to do," Davis said, when asked about the
team's long-term plans.
The move follows a decision late last month by the chairman of the
San Diego Chargers to stay in its home city for the upcoming season.
Both the Raiders and the Chargers have been eyeing a possible move
to Los Angeles.
NFL owners overwhelmingly gave approval to the Los Angeles Rams to
move to the Southern California city from St. Louis for the start of
the 2016 season, ending the league's 21-year absence in the United
States' second-largest TV market.
The Rams, who have won one Super Bowl since leaving Los Angeles in
1995 for St. Louis, will play their home games at the Los Angeles
Coliseum until their $1.86 billion stadium in Inglewood, roughly 10
miles from downtown Los Angeles, is complete.
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The Inglewood stadium project will be privately financed, making it
a steep buy-in for the Chargers. The Chargers still have an option
to move in with the Rams next year. If the two teams cannot work out
a deal then the Raiders will be given the next option to work out a
deal with the Rams.
The Raiders play in the O.co Coliseum, which was built in 1966 and
renovated for $120 million in 1995, the stadium's website said.
Davis said the team would not raise ticket prices.
(Reporting by Curtis Skinner in San Francisco; Editing by Bernard
Orr)
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