More money for Raiders? That’s crazy

This editorial is from the San Jose Mercury News:

Oakland loves the Raiders, but the city would be crazy to put up more public money to keep the team. It would be like paying an abusive partner not to leave you. Again.

The financial deal Oakland and Alameda County made to bring the team back from Southern California after it left in 1982 was a disaster. There’s still more than $100 million in debt to be paid off - and now the team is threatening to leave again. That would be sad and frustrating for the Raiders’ loyal East Bay fan base, but throwing good money after bad is never a good idea.

The prospect of another Raiders move came up last week after building plans for a privately funded stadium in Carson were announced, proposing to house the Raiders and their division rival San Diego Chargers.

Many believe sharing new NFL stadiums is the wave of the future, given the cost of building them and the relatively small number of games each football team plays. The New York Giants and the New York Jets successfully share a New Jersey stadium. When the privately funded Levi’s Stadium was being planned in Santa Clara, there was speculation the Raiders might co-occupy it to share costs.

The Raiders-Chargers deal became less likely Tuesday, however, when the city of Inglewood approved a competing project designed to bring the St. Louis Rams back to their Los Angeles roots. It’s hard to imagine the NFL allowing both projects at the same time.

Oakland and San Diego have sought public funds to help build stadiums. Libby Schaaf, Oakland’s new mayor, has repeatedly said she doesn’t favor using public funds for a Raiders stadium. However, she hints that the city might make “infrastructure improvements” around one. That can be a slippery slope.

It’s reasonable for cities to invest in the area around a major stadium project - or any major project - if it’s likely to spark surrounding development and build the tax base. San Jose’s plan for a privately funded A’s baseball park downtown (if the team ever gets permission to move) would include some spending on infrastructure that would benefit the downtown generally. Levi’s Stadium has investors lining up for nearby projects likely to justify Santa Clara’s infrastructure investment.

But Santa Clara’s stadium deal is considered one of the best in the country. The last Coliseum deal with the Raiders had to be one of the worst.

Besides still paying that off, Oakland owes more than $2 billion in pension and retirement health care debt. Unless the city can show Santa Clara’s acumen in negotiating - and prove that its stadium location will attract surrounding private investment on a similar scale - then it would be better off “investing” in a trip to Las Vegas.