*Updated* Oakland Mayor 'dramatic announcement' report on Raiders, A's stadium from fraudulent source

A couple weeks ago Mark Davis said there was nothing happening on the Oakland front with regard to a new stadium. As if to illustrate that fact, he was in Las Vegas Friday 'exploring' his options there with members of the UNLV athletic department.

Davis has been exploring his options for relocation for some time now and the Raiders were an owners vote away from teaming up with the Chargers on a stadium in Carson last January. According to sports agent Leigh Steinberg via Forbes Magazine early Saturday, the outlook in Oakland could soon improve.

The A's have threatened to go to San Jose, the Warriors to San Francisco, and the Raiders to multiple locals. This would have a devastating impact on the morale and economic climate of Oakland. Now, there appears to be an opening, under the leadership of Mayor Libby Schaaf, to innovatively revitalize Oakland and solve the needs of all three teams. Mayor Schaaf is expected to make a dramatic announcement regarding the Raiders situation early next week.​

Steinberg served in advisory role for Oakland Mayor Elihu Harris back in 1994 to help keep the A's from leaving town back then. He hints now that the announcement next week could be about the A's getting the stadium they have been hoping for at the much discussed Howard Terminal and thus freeing up the current Coliseum property for a new Raiders stadium and even potential a new arena for the Warriors.

UPDATE: The below quoted text, as it turns out was where the above report was generated. It comes from a post that was not dated on April 1st (March 31), nor labeled as a prank, but was indeed a prank. Hence the mistaken original report in Forbes. Its inclusion here was to show professional courtesy for the original 'report'. The title of "Consultant" given to the source is in no way official. It was given at the time of this writing for lack of a better term.

This is not the first we have heard of the A's potentially striking a deal to move to Howard Terminal. Last Thursday Oakland stadium consultant Zennie Abraham cited a source that the deal is happening despite several hurdles -- most notably a $150 million environmental cleanup cost -- that had previously kept Howard Terminal from being seriously considered.

A good friend of mine with a financial interest in Howard Terminal at The Port of Oakland told me this evening that "word is the Oakland A's are going to sign with Majestic Realty to build a stadium at Howard Terminal. Now, I don't now how they're going to get around the problems down there, but that's the word on the street." I have no reason to doubt my friend's out-of-the-blue information during our informal hangout, given his backround.

Abraham added some backstory to how we got to the point where Howard Terminal has won out of other potential stadium locations, including the previously thought frontrunner, Jack London Square. The important part is what has occurred in the past year.

Last Summer of 2015, Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf stated that she wanted the A's at Howard Terminal and flew to New York to meet with new MLB Commissioner Bob Mansfield. Later in the year, the A's stated they were going to find a site on their own - in January, Oakland A's Majority Owner John Fisher stated his personal interest in Howard Terminal. That led us to where we are today, with the A's about to enter an agreement with Majestic Realty and the Port of Oakland to build a new stadium at Howard Terminal.

While we have discussed at length Oakland's unwillingness to provide any public funding for a new Raiders stadium project, the elephant in the room (so to speak) has been Lew Wolff and the A's squatting on the Coliseum site with the 10-year lease they signed two years ago.

Wolff has been a thorn in the side of the Raiders throughout this process, saying in June of last year that he has no plans on sharing the coliseum site with the Raiders.

"We have thoroughly investigated things, and there is no good way to put two brand-new venues at the Coliseum site," said Wolff. "If the Raiders are going to be there, then I don't know what will happen. We'll have to sit down with (baseball commissioner) Rob (Manfred) and see what to do.''

The Coliseum has a 2-year out clause on their lease, which means if a deal is indeed struck this week to officially for the A's to move to Howard Terminal, it would be at least two years before any major construction could begin at the current site. In the meantime, the Raiders and Oakland would still have to come to an agreement on a new stadium. That hurdle still remains regardless.

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