The NFL’s ongoing dance with Los Angeles is so old, I think it began when people were jitterbugging.

However, it would be a mistake to poo-pooh this week’s news that St. Louis Rams owner Stan Kroenke has plans to join a development firm and build a stadium at the former site of Hollywood Park Racetrack in Inglewood. The proposal seems to be the most serious of the many that have been floated to bring a pro football team back to the L.A. area.

As such, it definitely affects the Raiders and their search for a new stadium in the East Bay or elsewhere. My opinion: This development should help keep the team in Oakland longer.

If the plan, detailed by The Los Angeles Times, continues on its path, the Rams would clearly be the team most likely to occupy the new venue. And depending on which speculative spin you believe, it either increases the chance that the Raiders would join the Rams for a two-team Los Angeles re-invasion to make the stadium a more cost effective project … or it shuts out the Raiders from a move to Los Angeles in the near future because the Rams don’t want to initially split the attention or the corporate sponsorships or the season ticket audience at the new stadium.

I believe the latter. If Kroenke really is bringing the Rams back to L.A. and his group really will be privately financing the stadium as touted, he surely doesn’t want to split the initial wave of ticket-buying and sponsorship interest.

Then again, if the NFL has to pay for the new stadium or a good chunk of it, the league might demand a second team be involved to help pay off the construction loans.

But, assuming that won’t be the case, the Raiders could play nowhere else but Oakland for several more years unless San Antonio officials truly have an NFL-worthy proposal worth considering. (Voices that I trust in San Antonio say otherwise.)

Raiders owner Mark Davis, asked about the plan, told this newspaper: “We’re still trying to get a deal done in Oakland.”

Which is definitely true. Davis’ lease at the Coliseum has expired. But he is expected to sign a one-year extension, assuming East Bay officials agree to terms. Davis has said his first preference is a new stadium on the current Coliseum site. But he has run into the usual Oakland bog of complications and wormholes and agendas.

To review: The Coliseum acreage is controlled by a Joint Powers Authority (JPA), which consists of politicos from Oakland and Alameda County. They have different viewpoints and agendas. Trying to get them all on the same page is always difficult.

Floyd Kephart, a San Diego financier, has been given an exclusive option to assemble the proper package for the JPA that would include a Raiders stadium, an A’s ballpark, or both. But so far, Kephart has failed to sign up either team or a master developer for the project. He is likely to ask for an extension on his option soon. The JPA really has no choice but to grant it. There aren’t many other alternatives. No one is banging on the JPA’s door with better ideas.

The true issue here, though, is Mark Davis himself and the way he has approached the Raiders’ stadium quest compared to Kroenke — and compared to the way Jed York handled the 49ers’ Santa Clara stadium plan. York drove the train on that project. He pushed through the political barriers and helped formulate the successful ballot initiative that gained voter approval. He worked with the NFL to obtain loans from the league, found the bankers to help finance the rest of the stadium and hired the company to sell the suites and seat licenses. Kroenke and his development partners seem to be using the same blueprint for the Inglewood proposal.

By contrast, Davis wants others to do most of the heavy lifting. He will provide the NFL team as a tenant for a new stadium and says he has $300 million to bring to the project. But he’s waiting for the JPA or Kephart or someone else to fill in the rest of the blank spaces in an Oakland stadium deal — or a deal in another city, if Oakland cannot assemble a suitable plan.

In theory, a stadium can be built by either method. But if Davis for some reason wants to get to Los Angeles ahead of another team, he’s probably already forfeited that chance by not being as proactive with a venue proposal. Maybe he’s cool with that. He’s certainly giving Oakland every chance to keep the team. And with a new mayor in office, perhaps Oakland will succeed. But there’s so much still to be done. And even if the Raiders sign a one-year lease extension, the JPA and Kephart may not have enough time to pull things together. There’s also the matter of satisfying the A’s, who have the option of breaking their 10-year lease if a Raiders stadium is built on the Coliseum site.

In the end, Davis may regret not driving his own stadium train. But for now, Oakland should feel fortunate that he isn’t. Davis’ choice to sit back and be more of a passenger — with way more patience than other owners might — gives the city and Alameda County a better chance to keep the Raiders from evacuating. If my assessment is correct, Kroenke and his L.A. plan could also extend the East Bay’s window of opportunity. Let’s see how the city and county officials use that window.

Contact Mark Purdy at mpurdy@mercurynews.com. Follow him on Twitter at twitter.com/MercPurdy.