NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell, left, laughs as Oakland Raiders owner Mark Davis talks to the media after an NFL owners meeting Tuesday, Jan. 12, 2016, in Houston. The owners voted to allow the St. Louis Rams to move to a new stadium just outside Los Angeles, and the San Diego Chargers will have an option to share the facility. The Raiders, who also wanted to move to the area, could move to Los Angeles if San Diego doesn't. (AP Photo/Pat Sullivan)

It's time for Raiders owner Mark Davis to get serious. And realistic.

With three teams vying to relocate to Los Angeles, NFL owners accepted the St. Louis Rams bid and offered the San Diego Chargers a one-year option to join. The Raiders were frozen out, told they could go only if the Chargers decide not to.

However, the NFL owners offered Davis a consolation prize: $100 million to help finance a new stadium in Oakland. It's a nice parting gift, but it won't bridge the funding gap he faces if he wants a new facility.

He's essentially back to square one, but without a viable threat of moving to Southern California. That means it's time for him to stop trying to squeeze East Bay taxpayers for a subsidy and find another source.

It's time for him to recognize what a good thing he has going here. The fans have been incredibly loyal despite his late father's traitorous 13-season move to Los Angeles. The taxpayers continue to fork over money for the Coliseum renovations Al Davis required two decades ago as a condition of the team's return.

And, despite all the grumbling now from the Raiders, the Coliseum location is superb, sandwiched between the BART station and the Nimitz Freeway and closer to San Francisco than the 49ers new stadium.

Mark Davis can keep threatening to move, perhaps filling the void in St. Louis or his latest rumored alternative, San Antonio. But that means building a fan base from scratch. Some of the Raider Nation followed him to Los Angeles three decades ago, but flights to Missouri and Texas will never be as quick, cheap or frequent.


He can look across the bay for a deal with the 49ers to share Levi's Stadium, but it's unlikely there's enough room in the facility for both team owners' egos.

Or he can talk seriously about the current Oakland site. Davis might need to find an investor to help him out. Or he could look at renovating, rather than rebuilding, the existing facility, which would be a good and cheaper option.

Meanwhile, Oakland has two teams to accommodate. The A's, after the Supreme Court scuttled its San Jose bid, are seriously exploring options in their home city.

There's plenty of room for the Raiders, too. And no one is talking about one stadium for the two teams again. But Davis will have to abandon his fantasy that he will be given control of the entire Coliseum site.

He's welcome to stay. But he's going to have to pay his own costs.