Raiders want to play at AT&T Park, but San Francisco lawmakers cry foul

The Oakland Raiders played their last game at Oakland Coliseum on Christmas Eve. The NFL franchise will relocate to Las Vegas where they will become the Las Vegas Raiders in 2020. In the meantime, after the city of Oakland filed an anti-trust lawsuit against the team, they need somewhere to play the 2019 season—and the Raiders have set their sights on San Francisco’s AT&T Park.

But some SF officials aren’t having it.

“We shouldn’t be undercutting the negotiating position of our friends across the Bay, by providing an easy out to the Raiders, who are retaliating against Oakland with this attempted move for 2019 simply because Oakland filed a lawsuit that they had every right to file,” said District Six Supervisor-elect Matt Haney, whose district encompasses AT&T Park.

Haney adds: “SF shouldn’t get in the middle of this, and should stand in solidarity with Oakland. No one in D6 surrounding the ballpark has been consulted about this either, and there are significant infrastructure and logistical aspects that would need to be worked out.”

Supervisors Aaron Peskin and Hillary Ronen also oppose the plan, according to SF Examiner.

In a statement to NBC Sports Bay Area, the Giants confirmed that the Raiders have expressed interest in playing one season at the waterfront stadium.

“Many details would need to be figured out,” said Giants officials. “The Giants want to do what’s best for Bay Area fans and would be open to the concept just as we hosted Cal Football in 2011 when Memorial Stadium in Berkeley was being renovated.”

However, Haney notes that San Francisco helping the Raiders would be a clearcut diss at Oakland and Oakland residents.

“We see how the Raiders treat their home cities, I don’t know why SF would want to add ourselves to that list,” exclaimed Haney. “Let’s not be scabs, SF Giants, stay out of this...Raiders fans and the city of Oakland deserve our support on that!!”

One possible wrinkle in the tentative plan: SF is 49ers territory.

NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport, as SF Weekly points out, notes that the Raiders plan to play in SF “falls within the 49ers territorial rights within the market [...] In other words, the Raiders can’t unilaterally move there.”

The NFL team had planned to play the 2019 season at the frayed coliseum until Oakland officials filed a lawsuit against the team two weeks ago to “recover damages resulting from the Raiders’ illegal move to Las Vegas, including lost revenue, money that Oakland taxpayers invested in the Raiders and other costs,” according to the lawsuit.