The Oakland Raiders are looking to extend their lease at the Oakland Alameda County Coliseum until 2020. It is speculated that the extension talks have been brought on by the fact that the new stadium in Las Vegas might not be ready by 2019 as originally planned.
According to Clark County Commissioner Chairman Steve Sisolak, the Raiders are negotiating with the Coliseum for an extension because they are running out of time to get the Las Vegas location complete. The new stadium that was agreed upon will cost up to $1.9 billion dollars, and it will seat 64,000 guests.
The domed stadium that is set to be built near Interstate 15 has a lot of details to be worked on as well.
Despite time being a slight issue for Las Vegas to have a state-of-the-art stadium built for The Raiders, the contractors hired to get the project done (Mortenson Construction, Minneapolis, and Henderson's McCarthy Building Cos.) are convinced that the project will be done on schedule. Sisolak is also confident that the contractors will have the new stadium ready on time, and that the Raiders are only playing it safe by negotiating an extension in Oakland.
Current deal
The Oakland Raiders have a lease at the Oakland Coliseum until 2018, and it is costing them $3.9 million. The lease was signed before this season, so the deal was for two years.
On top of the $3.9 million, the Raiders also have to split their revenue from the parking, concession stands, and club dues.
As of 2019, the Raiders will not have a home if the new stadium in Las Vegas is not ready. The Silver and Black have already ruled out playing at the stadium owned by UNLV. So, the Raiders President, Marc Badain, has been talking about an extension with the executive director of the Oakland Alameda County Coliseum, Scott McKibben.
It is believed that an extension of two years at the Coliseum would cost the same yearly rate as the current deal.
Is Las Vegas worried?
According to Sisolak, these talks of extending the lease in Oakland does not have him worried. Sisolak claims that everything is on track with the Raiders and that all the details have been explained and covered since the beginning of their deal to relocate the team.
Basically, Sisolak claims that the Raiders are on board and getting all the paperwork done to finalize the move.
It was also mentioned that the Las Vegas Review-Journal called McKibben in regards to the lease extension talks with the Oakland Raiders and that McKibben has not responded yet. Despite McKibben's action, the city of Las Vegas does not seem to be bothered, according to Sisolak. According to him, things are still going as planned.
