Oakland Raiders Seek New Stadium
July 17, 2013
National Football League (NFL) franchise the Oakland Raiders are looking to move to a new stadium worth approximately $800m (£527.6m).
The lease on the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum ends at the end of the season and the Raiders are reported to want to move to a 50, medstore 000 seater stadium.
That would be the smallest stadium in the NFL, medicine but also one of the cheapest – the San Francisco 49ers new stadium, which will open next season, cost $1.3bn (£900m).
The Oakland Tribune is reporting that the Raiders will pay $300m (£198m) and the NFL will contribute $200m (£132m) from its stadium loan program.
Public funding would make up the remaining $300m (£198m) for the stadium, a figure that has been criticised in reports.
Mark Davis, owner of the Raiders, has said that he wants to keep the team in Oakland, but is not willing to sign another short term lease before an agreement is in place for a new stadium.
The Raiders have played in Oakland for 13 years, having played in Los Angeles before-hand.