The 49ers unzipped the Field of Jeans for its unveiling on Thursday and NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell used the moment to suggest that the stadium could also become home to another NFL team.
With the Raiders’ status at O.Co Coliseum in doubt with a year left on their lease because of squabbles with civic authorities and the Oakland Athletics baseball team over the future of the site, Goodell suggested they could solve their problem by shacking up with the 49ers at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara.
“They have to make that determination, whether they’re in a new stadium in Oakland or whether they feel that it’s best to join this stadium,” Goodell said, via the Bay Area Sports Guy. “We’re working on that, and that’s one of the decisions they’ll have to make.”
Raiders owner Mark Davis has been asked about the possibility of playing at the 49ers’ new digs in the past and he’s never shown much interest in that scenario. He couldn’t be forced into moving into the stadium and the 49ers couldn’t be forced to take on a tenant, but the league made a loan of $200 million to build the stadium and Goodell probably wouldn’t have floated the idea if it wasn’t something that the league wanted.
If nothing else, a short-term rental at one of the few viable options for keeping them in the Bay Area would allow the Raiders to get out of their current mess and give them time to formulate a plan to build their own stadium without worrying about what the A’s might be doing.