Raiders Rescind Coliseum Renting Offer, Unlikely To Play In Oakland Next Year

The Oakland Raiders have rescinded their $7.5 million offer to rent out the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum for the 2019 NFL season, making it unlikely that the organization will play in the city next season.

The news was confirmed by various Raiders officials while owner Mark Davis and CEO Marc Badain also confirmed it during an NFL owners' meeting in Dallas on Wednesday. It comes in response to the City of Oakland's antitrust lawsuit filed against the Raiders on Tuesday.

"I don't want to pay for my own lawsuit," Davis said, as quoted on ABC7 News.

The Raiders will be relocating to Las Vegas from the 2020 season and will play their games at the new 65,000-capacity Las Vegas Stadium after it was approved by NFL owners in March.

However, that leaves Oakland with the un-renovated Coliseum where there is still an outstanding $75 million bond debt for renovating the stadium. The city had been planning an antitrust lawsuit for a couple of months, claiming among other accusations, that NFL team owners colluded to create a boycott of Oakland after a 31-1 vote approved the move.

And on Tuesday, it was finally filed with the Raiders, NFL and the other 31 teams in the league being named as defendants.

“The defendants brazenly violated federal antitrust law and the league’s own policies when they boycotted Oakland as a host city,” City Attorney Barbara J. Parker said in a press release. “The Raiders’ illegal move lines the pockets of NFL owners and sticks Oakland, its residents, taxpayers and dedicated fans with the bill."

"The purpose of this lawsuit is to hold the defendants accountable and help to compensate Oakland for the damages the defendants’ unlawful actions have caused and will cause to the people of Oakland.”

The Raiders were expected to play at the Coliseum during the 2019 season but already announced if a lawsuit was filed, they would leave a season in advance. The NFL said the organization must decide on a new home within the next month or two for next season.

“It’s simply about trying to make the schedule; to get confirmation. I know Mark [Davis] has expressed it. He’d like to be in Oakland,” NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said. “And we need to do that for scheduling purposes, that’s really the timing. So I would say early January, February.”

The Raiders could play their home games at the 35,500 capacity Sam Boyd Stadium in Las Vegas, but other options also include Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara, as well as San Diego, San Antonio and Reno.

Whatever the case may be, it looks increasingly likely that the Dec. 24 home game against the Denver Broncos could be the last time the Raiders play in Oakland.