Oakland Raiders, San Francisco 49ers Could Share Home Stadium

The Oakland Raiders are having landlord issues. You know, the kind that make you want to move out and find new digs. Now, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell has stepped in and suggested that the Oakland Raiders’ solution — or at least temporary solution — might be to find a new roommate. And who does the Comish think the Oakland Raiders should dump their current co-tenants, Major League Baseball’s Oakland A’s for?

The San Francisco 49ers.

Yup, believe it or not, Oakland Raiders fans, it’s a serious suggestion. Goodell has suggested that sharing the new Levi’s Stadium with cross-Bay rivals the San Francisco 49ers would be a good fit for the Raiders if there isn’t a new stadium forthcoming in Oakland.

NFL.com’s Around the League quotes the NFL Commissioner saying:

“Well, we have two pro teams in the Bay Area. Obviously, the stadium issue in Oakland’s going to have to be resolved, too. We believe a new stadium is appropriate for the Raiders. They have to make that determination whether they’re in a new stadium in Oakland or whether they feel that it’s best to join this stadium. We’re working on that, and that’s one of the decisions they’ll have to make.”

San Francisco 49ers owner Jed York has expressed some enthusiasm for the idea, according to a Yahoo Sports report. The NFL lent the 49ers the league maximum of $200 million to build the new stadium, which will have its inaugural season in 2014. The Oakland Raiders — should they agree to share the stadium with San Francisco — will not begin playing there until at least 2015, as they have one year remaining on their current lease.

Oakland Raiders’ owner Mark Davis hasn’t been nearly as enthusiastic about the idea. Still, he’ll have to figure something out if he doesn’t reach a deal to continue playing in Oakland soon.

Of course, the Raiders have other options if they can’t work out the stadium issues in Oakland. It’s not like they’ve never sought greener pastures before and, as fate would have it, Los Angeles — where the Oakland Raiders moved in the ’80s — is among the NFL’s prime target markets.

In a related report in Inquisitr, there has also been some talk that the other team that left L.A., the Los Angeles (not St. Louis) Rams, might have some interest in moving back to sunny South California. There are also a number of other markets the NFL would like to explore, and the Oakland Raiders may be able to migrate to one of them.

So, what do you think? Should the Oakland Raiders share a stadium with the San Francisco 49ers or look into their other options?

[Photo via Bing]