Oakland Raiders, Davis Says Team Owner Signs Letter Of Intent To Move Raiders Back To Bay Area

After a 13-year road trip, Al Davis says the Raiders are just coming home, baby!

The maverick owner said it all with his signature on a letter of intent committing the Raiders to leave Los Angeles and come back this season to Oakland, the city he abandoned in 1982.

In return, the board governing the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum has agreed to an $85 million stadium modernization and a $31.9 million loan to the team to help it complete the relocation in time to play in Oakland this season. In addition, terms call for the team to receive up to another $10 million for construction of training facilities here.

The NFL called a league meeting for the week of July 10 to act on the move, which would leave Los Angeles without a football team. Two months ago, the league allowed the Rams to leave Anaheim for St. Louis.

The league opposed Davis’ move to Los Angeles, but he won an antitrust suit that cleared the way for the Raiders’ departure. In addition, many NFL owners will be reluctant to block the Raiders’ return because they have moved their franchises or might want to in the future.

As politicians and Oakland Coliseum officials exchanged handshakes and high-fives, the Coliseum parking lot was the scene of an impromptu tailgate party celebrating the Raiders’ return. About a dozen people outfitted in the team’s trademark silver and black regalia chanted “The boys are back in town,” and “We want the Raiders.”

“Oh man, I think I’m about to explode,” said Ricky Ricardo Jr., owner of nearby Ricky’s cafe and an unofficial spokesman for local fans.

Davis turned his back on an NFLbacked proposal calling for construction by 1997 of a $250 million stadium at Hollywood Park in Inglewood.

“That was a better financial deal for the Raiders,” said Oakland Coliseum board member Ed De Silva, who helped negotiate the terms with Davis. “But he wants to come back to Oakland. He wants to come back to a city where he can win.”

The pact, approved unanimously at the end of a 29-minute Coliseum board meeting, must still be reviewed by the Oakland City Council and the Alameda County Board of Supervisors.

“The Raider organization has chosen to relocate to Oakland. We look forward to a dynamic 1995 season,” said a statement from the Raiders faxed to news organizations, with the word “Los Angeles” blacked out on the letterhead.

The NFL issued a terse statement that offered no opinion on the move, which must be approved by 23 of its 30 clubs.

A league source who spoke on condition of anonymity said that if the move were approved, the NFL’s expansion process would be speeded up and Los Angeles could get another team, or two, by 1998.

Ezra Rapport, Oakland’s deputy city manager, said that unlike a failed 1990 proposal to bring the Raiders back, the current agreement doesn’t have any public subsidies for the Raiders. He said there are no revenue guarantees for the team, and the stadium modifications will benefit baseball and football.

The Oakland Coliseum, which would be expanded to 65,000 seats for football and 48,000 for baseball, also is home to the Oakland Athletics. The number of luxury suites would be doubled to 175.

The agreement also calls for the Raiders to pay $500,000 annually in rent and for there to be a $1 surcharge on all tickets to support school projects.