Oakland must act fast to alleviate NFL concerns over Raiders stadium plans

There has been a back and forth going on this offseason with regard to the Raiders stadium hopes. And the league has serious concerns about the plans in place in Oakland and how exactly they intend to fund the project, which would include a new stadium for the Raiders expected to be around $1 billion.

That was the subject of conversation in the meeting NFL Vice President Eric Grubman had with several officials involved in the stadium plans including Alameda County Supervisor Scott Haggerty, Oakland City Council President Lynette Gibson McElhaney, Raiders owner Mark Davis and team President Marc Badain, and developer Floyd Kephart.

"The NFL is pushing extremely hard to get some answers," Haggerty told the San Francisco Chronicle Friday.

"I think the thing will come to a head in the next couple of weeks."

The man charged with satisfying the league's concerns is Floyd Kephart. He is the developer who will attempt to communicate just how this whole plan is supposed to come together.

Money is the major concern because the funds being proposed for the Coliseum City Project will not be coming from the city and county general fund and the funding provided by the Raiders and the NFL only cover a portion of the overall costs. It is a major expanse funded by other revenues involved with the project which is cause for a great deal of uncertainty.

This isn't just an Oakland thing either. Grubman met with San Diego officials last week as well and he had similar concerns about their current proposal.

Both cities are working to try and keep their teams in place, while also leaving open the possibility of a shared Los Angeles Stadium in Carson. And the league needs to know soon whether the plans each city has is realistic.

None of the Rams, Raiders, or Chargers will be moving until at least 2016, but with the way things are being pushed along says the NFL isn't willing to wait until that time to know exactly how all this will play out.

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