The Oakland Raiders seemed to know what was coming on Tuesday evening, as Raiders owner Mark Davis withdrew his team's request to relocate to Los Angeles prior to owners' vote in Houston, according to ESPN's Paul Gutierrez. The Raiders are expected to stay in Oakland, but the city has been stated as a non-viable market, and the Oakland Athletics are still planning their own facility in Oakland.
"This announcement by the NFL regarding the Raiders does not change our immediate plans or our goal of securing a new baseball-only facility," said A's owner Lew Wolff, via ESPN.
The Rams were the only organization to get exactly what they wanted, as team owner Stan Kroenke will move his team to Los Angeles and play at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum until the Stadium is ready. The Chargers were approved for relocation, but not the proposal they submitted in which they were partnered with the Raiders in Carson, but as a partner to the Rams in Inglewood. The organization has until January 2017 to decide if they want to accept relocation to Inglewood, and have until March 23 to decide if they will move to Los Angeles for the 2016 season. Kroenke has said that the Chargers or Raiders would be offered an option of either ownership or a lease agreement on Inglewood Stadium.
The Raiders are left in limbo right now though, as they have to wait up to a year to see if the Chargers accept the partnership with the Rams in Inglewood, and if not they have a year to decide whether to join them in Hollywood Park, according to Gutierrez. Raiders owner Mark Davis reportedly may look to target the city of San Antonio, Texas as a possible relocation spot, and could use the possible move as leverage to get a new stadium build in Oakland.
Cowboys owner Jerry Jones reportedly would try to block the Raiders from moving to San Antonio, but after proposing the Rams and Chargers partnership it would be extremely difficult to block the Raiders again.
The Raiders are clearly moving in the right direction on the field, and posted a 7-9 record under first year head coach Jack Del Rio. It's unclear what will happen for the Raiders down the road, but it looks as though Oakland will host the silver and black at least for one more year.
