Big day for Raiders future in Oakland, but big questions remain

With the clock ticking on the NFL’s decision on who will relocate to Los Angeles and what site they will play, the Oakland Raiders hope to get some clarity soon on the viability of their future in the Bay Area.

Perhaps even today, when Floyd Kephart delivers a draft plan for a potential $900 million stadium for the Raiders to Oakland city and Alameda County leaders.

The stadium would anchor the Coliseum City development, a massive project on and near the city and county owned land where the Raiders, Oakland A’s and Golden State Warriors homes currently sit.

Kephart’s New City Development LLC has an exclusive negotiating agreement with the city and county on the project, and today’s presentation meets a June 21 deadline for providing key information. According to the ENA, the city and county have 15 business days to approve or reject New City’s plans. The ENA is set to expire in two months.

Meanwhile, Los Angeles beckons to the south as a potential landing spot.

The Raiders have partnered with the San Diego Chargers on a stadium project in Carson.

Meanwhile, St. Louis Rams owner Stan Kroenke is proposing a stadium plan in Inglewood.

The NFL hopes to decide which stadium plan they will back on what team – or teams – will relocate to Los Angeles by early 2016.

Kephart is confident he will answer all of the key questions – some of which were posed in this article from the San Francisco Business Times.

Namely:

“Who will pay for, own and operate the stadium?”

The Raiders will contribute $500 million to the stadium – including the $200 million from the NFL sponsored G-4 loan program.

Obviously, that means a $400 million funding gap must be dealt with.

Meanwhile, there are long-standing issues the city and county must also settle.

Among them, confirmation that:

1. Land will be made available to the Raiders.

2. The new, required infrastructure will be publicly financed.

3. The existing coliseum debt will not be transferred to the new stadium.

In addition, while Bay Area leaders insist they want to save the Raiders, A’s and Warriors, to date there has been no explanation of what economic considerations the city and county will provide to any of the three teams for them to stay.

Kephart is confident he will provide necessary answers on his end, and told the San Francisco Business Times he expects negotiations between the governments, New City and the Raiders to occur “over the next few weeks.”

But the county and city must also step up.

And with the NFL’s clock on Los Angeles relocation ticking loudly, time is of the essence.