The San Francisco 49ers and Oakland Raiders are slated to meet at Levi's Stadium during the regular season this year with the date and time for the matchup set to be revealed next month. The two teams have not met during the regular season since December 7, 2014.
There is an even longer dought between the two teams. The 49ers and Raiders have not played an exhibition game against each other since 2011. The decision to end the annual series due to violence among fans at games ended 11 consecutive years of the two teams meeting in the preseason.
Raiders owner Mark Davis is not against restarting the preseason series and was asked about it on Sunday.
"I don't think there's a problem," Davis told NBC Sports Bay Area.
Would a preseason renewal be in the cards for this year? "We'll see," Davis said. "That's for others to make a decision on."
The series will soon lose some of its excitement with the Bay Area rivalry coming to an end. The Raiders, now coached by Jon Gruden, will be moving to Las Vegas and leaving the 49ers as the only NFL team in the Bay Area. The move could happen as soon as 2019 with the team possibly playing at Sam Boyd Stadium, which serves as the home of the UNLV Rebels football team. The Raiders' new $1.8 billion stadium just west of the Las Vegas Strip and Interstate 15 is expected to be completed in time for the 2020 season.
Comments