The Raiders could find themselves without a home during the 2019 season. Oakland filed a lawsuit in federal court this week against the Raiders and the NFL, calling the team's relocation to Las Vegas illegal and demanding compensation for hundreds of millions of dollars in potential losses.
The city of Oakland reportedly invested and borrowed over $240 million with the expectation that the Raiders would remain at the Oakland Coliseum. This season will likely be their last at that location with the team seeking alternatives before the eventual move to Las Vegas.
An easy solution, for both the Raiders and the NFL, would be sharing Levi's Stadium with the San Francisco 49ers for one season. Judy Battista of NFL Network can't envision that scenario coming to fruition.
"A lot of people have been saying that's the easiest solution for years," Battista said on-air. "It is apparently something that the Raiders have been reluctant to do, according to people I've talked to today, and remain reluctant to do.
"Obviously, this is a very unique circumstance now. And again, with very limited time to pull it together, that would seem to be a very easy solution."
The Raiders would be able to remain at their practice facility and not be forced to move the entire organization for a season only to move again a year later.
"Look, this is partly an emotional situation, and there is an emotional reluctance to share a stadium with the San Francisco 49ers," Battista added.
Ian Rapoport points out that Levi's Stadium was designed with the potential of hosting two NFL teams in mind.
"I know in the past, the 49ers have been fairly outspoken about saying, 'You can use our stadium,'" Rapoport said. "When I talked to (Raiders owner) Mark Davis about this very topic, he always brings up his fans, the Raider fans, and how they would sort of fit in, in Santa Clara. It doesn't seem like that would be a good fit."