The Oakland Raiders will remain as the main tenants of the Oakland Coliseum at least through the 2015-16 NFL season.
Raiders owner Mark Davis and the Joint Powers Authority - a "public partnership between the city of Oakland and the Alameda County" - approved a short term lease renewal for the franchise, according to a report from Lisa Fernandez of NBC Bay Area.
"This is a good start and we need to maintain this momentum," Oakland City Councilmember and JPA Chair Larry Reid said in a statement, per Fernandez. "Starting today, we can work with new urgency and take a fresh look at the opportunity ahead of us to find a solution for our teams and our community."
The debate between the Davis' and the Raiders and the city of Oakland has been raging for years.
Davis has threatened to move the franchise to another city without a new stadium initiative on the site of the Coliseum. He said in November that he didn't want to get trapped in a cycle of one-year lease extensions, but wants to keep the team in Oakland.
Paperwork for a proposed $1.7 billion joint stadium venture between the Raiders and the San Diego Chargers in a Los Angeles suburb is expected to be filed Wednesday then brought before voters.
"We are confident in the future for professional sports in Alameda County and Oakland," said JPA Executive Director Scott McKibben, according to Fernandez. "There are numerous paths forward to retain all of our teams and support the local economy. We will use this lease term to continue to work on a long-term solution that works for all parties."
As Fernandez notes, the new agreement does not necessarily mean the Raiders will remain in Oakland long-term, but it does buy both sides some time to truly determine the future of the massively popular NFL franchise.
