Add Oakland Raiders to NFL teams looking for a new stadium

The Oakland Raiders’ home stadium, now called O.co Coliseum, has had several names over the years. But this hasn’t changed: It’s an aging venue (now 48) that was renovated on the cheap in 1995, with narrow concourses, too few bathrooms and concession stands, and insufficient power. Suites were added in the renovation, but they pale in comparison to the luxury suites in other NFL venues — although the Raiders haven’t been able to sell them anyway.

The biggest issue for the Raiders is that they are the sub-tenant to the Oakland Athletics, who control the building’s scheduling, concessions and most of the marketing and sponsorship elements. No other NFL team shares a building with a baseball team.

The Raiders’ lease expired Dec. 29, but it is anticipated that the club will sign a one-year lease extension to stay put, mostly because there’s nowhere to go at the moment.

The Raiders don’t want to share Levi’s Stadium with the San Francisco 49ers. Stanford University isn’t interested in renting its stadium. There’s a contractual ban on NFL games at UC Berkeley. Candlestick Park is being dismantled. And AT&T Park, home of the San Francisco Giants, is too small for NFL games.

The Raiders have kicked the tires on various stadium solutions in and around the East Bay since 2008, but those proposals would entail an expensive purchase and the private financing of a stadium in the $1-billion neighborhood.

There is a plan for a Coliseum City project on the site of the current stadium that would feature sports venues, stores, restaurants and upscale housing. But there is no financing for the endeavor.