In addition to a legacy that includes three Super Bowl championships as well as a lot of losing, the Raiders will leave millions in debt behind them as they leave for Las Vegas following this season.
According to The San Francisco Chronicle, the Raiders and Alameda County still have a $65 million debt to pay that goes all the way back to when the team returned to Oakland in 1995 following more than a decade in Los Angeles.
In addition to paying more than $50 million for a relocation fee, the team, the county and the city also took on debt to make improvements to Oakland Coliseum. At the end of the day, the total debt was about $223 million.
The original plan was to pay off the debt by selling personal-seat licenses at the Coliseum for an up-front fee of $250 to $4,000. However, PSLs were a new phenomenon in the mid-’90s and sales fell far short of expectations.
Despite the debt, which will grow to $75 million if it keeps getting paid down at the current schedule, former City Councilman Ignacio De La Fuente told The Chronicle he still thinks the deal to bring the Raiders back was a good one.
“Despite everything, we managed to keep three professional sports teams in Oakland for 20 years. But the Raiders are going, the (Warriors) are gone and the Oakland A’s will likely be leaving — at least that’s my opinion,” he said.
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