The Oakland Raiders want to play one season at Oracle Park, home of the San Francisco Giants, before bidding a final farewell to the Bay Area and heading to Las Vegas. However, they'll require the approval of the NFL and the 49ers to play the 2019 season in San Francisco.
Even though the 49ers play in Santa Clara now, and have done so for the past five years, Oracle Park technically sits within the team's designated home territory. Jed York, Al Guido, and company would have to approve such a move.
Why should the 49ers care? While San Francisco is still considered their home territory, Levi's Stadium sits over 40 miles south of Oracle Park. The team boasted during the construction of its new home that most of the attendees of 49ers games don't even come from San Francisco. Why should the 49ers care if the Raiders call the city home for one measly season?
As with all things, it comes down to money.
Levi's Stadium was built with the mindset of potentially housing two tenants. That is, the stadium has the capacity and facilities to do so. It even has a spare locker room, which would potentially leave the 49ers' locker room untouched by another club. While the Niner Faithful may balk at the idea of sharing the stadium with the Raiders and their fans, the 49ers and NFL would love it. It just makes too much sense.
The 49ers also have a responsibility to make as much money as possible for the city of Santa Clara in addition to themselves. Make no mistake; the 49ers likely want the Raiders to play at Levi's Stadium. While Santa Clara residents didn't face new taxes to pay for the stadium, there is a hotel tax in place, and NFL owners approved a $200 million loan in 2012 to be used in the construction of the 49ers' new home.
"Obviously, we've always said to (Raiders owner) Mark (Davis) that we're happy to entertain or be an option for them," Guido said on 95.7 The Game in January. "I think our stance has never really changed on that front."
Levi's Stadium did host Super Bowl 50 in 2016 but has reportedly been losing millions of dollars hosting the Pac-12 Championship Game in recent years. The 49ers opted out of hosting the annual game in 2020. The stadium also hosted the National Championship in January and reportedly lost $8 million to $12 million doing so.
Despite the financial losses, Forbes estimates that the 49ers are worth about $3.05 billion thanks to Levi's Stadium. The value ranks sixth among NFL teams.
As for San Francisco, its mayor, London Breed, would prefer the Raiders don't add to an already congested area.
"We don't need another layer to add to what we already have -- and that's an area that's really congested filled with construction and will host a number of basketball and baseball games over the coming months," she recently told KTVU.
The bottom line is that the 49ers would welcome the revenue generated from seven regular-season Raiders games at Levi's Stadium (Oakland will play one home game against the Chicago Bears in London). The NFL and city of San Francisco apparently would prefer the teams share Levi's Stadium. Only the Raiders would rather play in a stadium which seats nearly 42,000 fans compared to one which seats over 68,000 and doesn't force both teams to share a sideline.
Or the Raiders could try to work out a deal to remain in Oakland for one more year.
Neither the 49ers nor the NFL benefit more from the Raiders playing at Oracle Park versus the alternatives.
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