While it looks less and less likely that the Raiders will use Oracle Park, home of the San Francisco Giants, for the 2019 season, a new report indicates the 49ers may not actually have much say in the matter. Matt Maiocco of NBC Sports Bay Area reported Wednesday that the NFL can override the 49ers’ territorial rights if the team does not waive them.
“A unanimous vote of the 30 other owners would be required against the 49ers – or in support of the Raiders – in order to clear the path for the Raiders to play at Oracle Park,” Maiocco wrote.
It’s important to note that the first step to even getting to that point would be the Raiders hammering out a deal with the Giants that allowed them to play in San Francisco.
At that point the 49ers would have to waive their territorial rights, or the rest of the league would have to vote unanimously in favor of Oakland spending one season playing at the Giants’ baseball stadium before its scheduled move to Las Vegas. A one-year relocation to a different city would be unprecedented in the modern NFL.
There’s some concern, according to Maiocco, that a vote to waive the 49ers’ territorial rights would set a precedent that rendered those rights effectively meaningless.
San Francisco Mayor London Breed spoke out against the possible temporary stay by the Raiders in her city, citing conflicting events at Oracle Park and the nearby Chase Center, the new home of the Golden State Warriors, which is scheduled to open in October.
While the Raiders chances of playing at Oracle Park aren’t totally dead, the odds continue growing longer.
