Details scarce on Raiders' reported interest in San Diego

Coming out of the recent Super Bowl week, the notion of the San Diego Raiders was raised by two longtime reporters covering the NFL, Peter King of MMQB and Sam Farmer of the Los Angeles Times.

King wrote that San Diego “is in play” for the Raiders. Farmer wrote: “Don’t rule out the Raiders kicking the tires at some point on a move to San Diego.”

Absent were details on how a San Diego stadium would be financed or whether the NFL would sanction such a move.

Since then, a contributor to Forbes, Vincent Frank, has weighed in. Drawing a skeptical conclusion, Frank suggested that “San Diego’s citizenry has made it clear they will not use public funds on a stadium.”

He summed up that “San Diego doesn’t make much sense for the Raiders, the NFL as a whole or the population in California’s southernmost city.”

Las Vegas remains an option for the Raiders, said Atlanta Falcons owner Arthur Blank, despite reports last week that a Vegas casino magnate removed his $650 million stake from a plan to build a $1.9 billion stadium and convention center there.

“Demand for NFL ownership is unique,” Blank told the Las Vegas Journal-Review, predicting another investor will surface to help Davis make the move.

“I think Mark is anxious to complete that move,” Blank told the newspaper last week. “I think he won’t have a problem finding a partner.”

Concerning the Raiders’ relocation to Vegas, Blank foresees an NFL vote in late March.

“I know the league tries to move these things along as quickly as possible,” he said. “Whether or not all the information will be gathered and vetted properly (by next month), I am not sure. I think there is a chance of getting it done (with a vote) in March.”

The Raiders have one-year leases at the Oakland Coliseum for the next two seasons. Moving to Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara is another possible outcome, the San Jose Mercury News suggested.