Snag Could Derail Talks To Keep Raiders In Oakland Next Year

OAKLAND (KPIX) — Negotiations to keep the Raiders at the Oakland Coliseum hit an undisclosed snag Wednesday as the Coliseum Authority Board discussed a deal that could potentially have the team play the 2019 season at the stadium.

Officials said talks between the board and team representatives were moving forward, but there's a major glitch officials could not discuss that may sink the whole deal.

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"I'm not going to comment on the particulars of the issue itself," said Coliseum Authority Executive Director Scott McKibben. "I want to sit down and talk to Marc Badain and Mark Davis and walk them through it."

Without sharing details, McKibben said if the Raiders and the board can't reach an agreement on the undisclosed issue, a deal with the team may not be happening.

"It requires agreement by both of us, and we have a difference of opinion. This could very likely put us in a position where there's not a deal," explained McKibben.

While no one would confirm what exactly the sticking point was, sources said the issue was who covers the expenses of the Raider's headquarters in Alameda for the one to two years of the new lease.

In order to get the issue that is the point of conflict on the agenda for their next meeting, it needs to get resolved between now and Monday.

On the table is a lease that would make the Raiders pay $7.5 million to play at the Coliseum for the 2019 season that includes an option for $10.5 million for 2020 if the Raiders new stadium in Las Vegas isn't completed by then.

When asked what will happen to the outstanding debt of $20 million a year the city of Oakland is still paying off from the last Raider deal, McKibben replied, "As it currently stands, that's our responsibility. We keep paying."

Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf she is encouraged by how the talks are going.

"The city is done subsidizing this team. We have to make a profit if they're going to stay," said Schaaf. "That's true for the county. For too long, the shakedown of the billionaire boys club has been going on and we are committing to stopping that."

Schaaf told KPIX on Tuesday that the negotiations won't change the status of the antitrust lawsuit against the team and the NFL for what she calls "the wrongful relocation" of the Raiders to Las Vegas.

McKibben maintained that the suit was not an issue in the negotiations.

"The law suit has really not been a big deal," he said. "They have accepted the fact that the lawsuit is going forward."

If the sides can hammer out a deal, it would mark the first time that East Bay taxpayers will actually make money off the Raiders playing in Oakland since the team returned in 1995.

The NFL is urging the Raiders to figure out the stadium situation so the league can make its schedule. The league's annual meeting is coming up March 24th through 27th.

The Coliseum board could possibly be voting on a lease at its monthly open meeting next Friday.

KPIX reporters Jackie Ward and Phil Matier contributed to this story.