Raiders Relocation Would Need NFL Nod

A San Francisco reporter last week reported that the Raiders NFL team would be playing their 2019 season in that city, a year before landing in Las Vegas. Complicating that reports is the fact that the San Francisco 49ers would have to give their permission, and so would the NFL. Neither has done so.

Although it has been reported that the Raiders plan to play their 2019 season in San Francisco, the NFL team requires that the San Francisco 49ers waive their territorial rights and that the NFL as a whole approve the move.

The team previously tried to relocate to Las Vegas for the 2020 season and then the City of Oakland filed a federal anti-trust suit against the NFL and all 32 of its football teams in protest. Since that time the team’s lease on the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum has expired.

Last week NBC sports anchor Raj Mathai reported that “Raiders will play in San Francisco for 2019.” He said the team had reached an agreement with the San Francisco Giants to use Oracle Park. However, Mathai did not address the questions of how the team would get around the 49er’s territorial rights or the NFL approval, neither of which have happened.

The Raiders have no commented on the situation.

Several other sports reporters refuted the report, and said the deal was “not done.”

One option is that the Raiders could return to Oakland.

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