Las Vegas Raiders owner Mark Davis was at the forefront of issues relating to getting a new stadium built in Oakland before the team opted to relocate to Southern Nevada.
Davis and his Raiders also shared a run-down venue near the Oakland Airport with the MLB’s Athletics prior to moving from Northern California. He has a broad understanding of the politics that came into play.
With the A’s announcing plans to relocate to Las Vegas, mere miles from the Raiders’ Allegiant Stadium, Davis is sounding off. He’s not happy, and he’s letting everyone know about it.
“I won’t forget what they did to us in Oakland. They squatted on a lease for 10 years and made it impossible for us to build on that stadium. They were looking for a stadium. We were looking for a stadium. They didn’t want to build a stadium, and then went ahead and signed a 10-year lease with the city of Oakland and said, ‘We’re the base team.’”
Las Vegas Raiders owner Mark Davis on Oakland A’s leadership
Davis is talking about when the A’s and Raiders were co-tenants at the Oakland Coliseum after the latter relocated back to Northern California from Los Angeles in 1995. This “relationship” lasted until the Raiders moved to Vegas following the 2019 season.
There were several issues with Mark Davis and the Raiders attempting to get a new stadium in Oakland. Heck, a rift between the city and organization dated back to his late father, the legendary Al Davis, opting to relocate to Los Angeles in the first place back in 1982.
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Las Vegas Raiders owner Mark Davis sounds off on the Oakland A’s
Davis is unhappy about the A’s allegedly blocking a new venue in Oakland while they shared Oakland Coliseum. That’s primarily due to a lease that the MLB team has with the city of Oakland. Said lease runs through the 2024 season, opening up a path to Las Vegas in the process.
Davis also took aim at the embattled A’s ownership group, led by John Fisher.
“For them to leave Oakland without anything is pretty [screwed] up,” Davis said. “Because that site that the stadium was on was a good site. We ended up in Las Vegas, which is absolutely fantastic and couldn’t be better. But the A’s never gave us a real good chance to stay up in Oakland.”
The A’s centrally focused on building a new stadium at the Howard Terminal location in Oakland rather than building a new one at the current location across from Oakland International Airport. For Mark Davis and the then-Oakland Raiders, the idea of erecting a brand new stadium at the current location made the most sense.
As with most in Northern California, Davis is also unhappy about the announcement from Fisher and Co. that the A’s have bought a lot of land in Las Vegas to build a new stadium. Primarily, what it means for the Bay Area.
“They marketed the team as ‘Rooted in Oakland,’ that’s been their mantra through the whole thing,” Davis said. “The slogans they’ve been using have been a slap to the face of the Raiders, and they were trying to win over that type of mentality in the Bay Area. Well all they did was f**k the Bay Area.”
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There are certainly a lot of moving parts to this. The A’s current lease in Oakland comes to an end following the 2024 season. They are not planning on having the new stadium in Southern Nevada ready until the start of the 2027 campaign.
Perhaps, the A’s look to move to Vegas once their current lease ends. If that were the case, don’t expect Davis to pander to their current ownership group and help find a temporary home.
“Not with that management group,” Mark Davis said when asked about cooperating with the A’s. “I just have, again, a lot of personal animosity toward the front office. But with a new management group? Absolutely.”