Next year, the Raiders may be playing a long way from Oakland. A long, long way from Oakland.
According to the Daily Mail, the Raiders are in talks with Tottenham regarding the possibility of playing its home games there next year.
Tottenham was due to host an NFL game this season, but the refurbished stadium wasn’t ready.
It’s hard to imagine this being anything more than leverage for whatever stadium deal the Raiders strike domestically, with AT&T Park in San Francisco being a potential destination. Oakland is due to face the teams of the NFC North and AFC South, along with the last-place teams from the AFC East and the AFC North.
Surely, coach Jon Gruden wouldn’t want to spend a season in England. He made it clear this year prior to traveling to London for a regular-season game in 2018.
“I hope I can make it, honestly. I’m not great,” Gruden said. “I get claustrophobic. My son was a weightlifter and he won a powerlifting competition in Belarus. I had to fly 14 hours. I had to fly home 14 hours. I had vertigo for a month. I couldn’t even lay down, the house was spinning. I am hoping I don’t get vertigo. I’m not a great traveler.”
He likely won’t have to worry about multiple London trips next year. But until the Raiders know where they will be in 2019, there’s no reason to take any option off the table.