Mark Davis wants the Oakland Raiders to stay in Oakland

When someone says the same thing over and over in the media, the chances are it’s the truth. And that definitely seems to be the case these days with Oakland Raiders owner Mark Davis. But those that don’t understand negotiations, particularly those in L.A. that want the Raiders there, don’t get it.

Davis has always first and foremost wanted to keep the team in Oakland, where it was born. It is also the place where his father, deceased, legendary Raiders owner Al Davis, remains buried. Not to mention the $40 million he has spent on upgrading the facilities in Oakland and his team is worth more in his own stadium in Oakland than sharing in L.A.

So why did he try to move to L.A.?

It wasn’t really a move to L.A. he wanted, he wanted the right to move to L.A. as leverage on Oakland. Of the three teams that tried to get voted into to the city, only one of them truly wanted to go. San Diego Chargers owner Dean Spanos got together with Davis for their Carson Plan as a last-ditch effort for leverage on the cities they’re in.

There are many that don’t know that the contract Spanos and Davis had automatically voided if either or both teams ended up getting a stadium deal in the respective cities they’re currently in. The right to move was much more important to the owners of these two teams than moving itself.

Don’t believe me, look at Spanos, who just announced he’ll remain in San Diego in 2016 to seek a long-term solution in the city. The city of Angeles has been used for leverage on numerous occasions. On Tuesday, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell confirmed on the Rich Eisen Show that Davis has the same outlook as Spanos.

Goodell said, “I spoke to Mark Davis yesterday and he indicated that he wanted to play the 2016 season in Oakland and wants to get a long-term solution in the Bay Area, in the Oakland market. For us, this is a positive thing, a positive thing for our fans. We just have to work to try to get those long-term stadium solutions so that teams can continue to be successful in those markets.

“They’re great markets. The teams are going to have to step up, the league is going to have to step up and the communities are going to have to step up to find real solutions. During the relocation process it was clear that these communities said they don’t have suitable stadiums for the long term.

“They acknowledged that and they also acknowledged that there have been many failed attempts. Now we have to get a solution that we can approve, we can move forward on and that will allow the teams to succeed. I don’t think a solution is anywhere near in place right now other than I think there is an agreement to work towards.”

Let there be no more questions about what Davis wants.