Report: Raiders back to Oakland for 2019 a done deal

What always seemed inevitable has finally happened — the Raiders will be playing football in Oakland next season. After reports last week had the Raiders and the Oakland Coliseum Authority closing in on a deal, that deal is now done, according to Ian Rapoport.

Mark Davis had backed out of the previous deal that had the Raiders playing in the Coliseum on a one-year $7.5 million lease when the City of Oakland followed through on their threats of filing an antitrust lawsuit against the Raiders and the NFL. But after potential locations such as Qualcomm in San Diego and Oracle Park in San Francisco dried up, Davis went with staying in Oakland as seemed the most logical outcome all along.

Part of the deal will be an option for the 2020 season as an emergency situation should the Las Vegas stadium not be finished in time for the team to move in. However unlikely the folks in Las Vegas would like you to believe that is, they are running on a tight window that currently has the stadium finished on July 31 which would be a few weeks from when they would be scheduled to play their first game there. So, a contingency plan is smart.

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