Post by TheShadow on Feb 1, 2007 19:12:28 GMT -5
www.insidebayarea.com
Column by Carl Steward
Inside Bay Area
WHETHER THE Raiders or 49ers choose to downplay or outright deny the possibility of it ever happening, the idea of a joint stadium for the Bay Area's two NFL teams is an excellent one.
With land values, building space and general stadium construction expense at a premium, it's a practical and fiscally responsible alternative to a pie-in-the-sky $800 million palace in a city that isn't even as big as Fremont.
While it's unclear where a fantasy edifice that served the Raiders and 49ers might be best located, if the two teams were really looking to save money and pull this off quickly, Oakland just might be the best ticket at the current Coliseum site.
Why? Simple. Half of a fairly new stadium, the Mt. Davis structure that was erected for the Raiders' return in 1995, is already in place. It has a club, luxury suites and excellent football sight lines, even at the very top of the towering facility. You'd only have to build the other half and perhaps spruce up the 11-year-old part to have a pretty fine football complex that might even be capable of hosting a Super Bowl.
There would be no issues of land purchase, parking or automobile or mass transit access. It's in place right now. The new side could house upgraded, state-of-the-art locker rooms for both clubs in addition to all the modern conveniences of NFL stadiums built during the past 10 years at a significant fraction of the cost.
And of course, the Coliseum will be looking for a new tenant when the A's move to Fremont, probably by the end of the 2010 season. Utilizing the time line required to build the 1995 structure, some semblance of a new football stadium could conceivably be open in 2012 or 2013, the same time John York would like to have his Santa Clara dream park up and running.
OK, now the bad news. Would the San Francisco 49ers actually consider setting up shop in Oakland, if only for 10 dates a year? They've already issued a flat no in response to a Bay Area newspaper report that said the two clubs might be discussing a joint venture anywhere. But in reality, Oakland is a lot less absurd than Santa Clara because the Coliseum location is much more centrally located for all parts of the Bay Area than where the Niners want to build.
The other consideration is the Raiders — who wouldn't even address the notion with a comment — and what their future holds. While they have made no nasty noises about moving elsewhere, Al Davis did indicate before last season that ticket sales over 2006 and the next few seasons would serve as a critical barometer about Oakland's future viability as an NFL market.
The Raiders did a commendable job selling their own tickets this season considering the pathetic product, but it's way too early to determine how they feel about where they'll want to be post-2010, when their Coliseum lease expires.
What's known now is that the Raiders' lease expiration will come close to coinciding with the A's moving out, so they will have more leverage regarding any possible football-only stadium redesign if they choose to pursue it. They have to be attracted to the option, if no other reason that they could have a completed new structure in place much faster than anywhere else, and that includes L.A., where there is still nothing much happening on the stadium front.
Financing would be a sticking point, even building half a stadium. But imagine if the 49ers did come in on such a project. The NFL does aid its teams with the financing of new stadiums, and when the Giants and Jets for a joint venture at the Meadowlands several years back, the league doubled the amount of cash each team would receive on its own.
Even if the new side of an Oakland stadium cost $500 million, the league's input could cover more than half of that. The rest could be privately financed through naming rights, stadium advertising and ticket sales by both teams. The city and county would reap the financial benefit of dual tenancy without obligating taxpayers.
OK, more bad news. Can anyone imagine a more unlikely alliance than Davis and York? It's tough enough to satisfy just one of them let alone both uniformly. But the Giants and Jets somehow came to a meeting of egos for the most of the reasons stated above, and having been to the Meadowlands for games of both teams, it's amazing how that facility is transformed to its team and audience depending on which team is in town.
What's more, it's not like the Raiders haven't shared a stadium before with another football team. They did cohabitate at the L.A. Coliseum with USC for 13 years. With that in mind, maybe Cal might want to jump in and make it a threesome, considering the latest setback in Berkeley.
Nah, we've conjured up enough stadium science fiction for one day.