Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf, Raiders Mark Davis Screw Up NFL Stadium Talks – Video
Libby Schaaf loves the spotlight – and now it seems she does do a bit too much. When she was running for Mayor of Oakland, and after she won, I specifically told her to avoid letting traditional media tell her story: better to use YouTube and podcasts and refer to them. But her love for the camera as well as the idea that people still pay attention to traditional media has not gotten her into big trouble with Oakland Raiders fans – except those in LA. In short, Mayor Schaaf should have simply called NFL Executive Vice President Eric Grubman and then Mark Davis, and let that be that.
But nope – she did not,. And in making this a big and disasterous press deal that has mangled her reputation on social media, Oakland Raiders fans have gotten the wrong idea and now are really pissed off with her. The bottom line is the deal can be done without public subsidies, but now we have to turn to the other person in the room who shares the blame for this problem: Mark Davis.
The Raiders Owner is a lot like Mayor Schaaf – has his idea and will not budge from it, at least in the case of the stadium issue. Mark is tied to a conventional way of thinking about and building new stadiums. Davis asked me to come up with a stadium plan, and I did, and matched his request with Schaaf’s desire to not have taxpayer monies involved. (In fact, I’m the one who told her way back in June to say what she wanted. Good work there, but the problem here is timing, and hers was just bad.)
Anyway, I not only formed a good financial plan, I got a giant investment banking company involved in it, and even with all of that, Marc Badain did not return my phone calls and Mark Davis did talk to me about it, but only once and in passing at the NFL Owners Meeting in Schaumberg. To put in bluntly, I gave them the answer and the way to get to it, and the Raiders didn’t do it. The $400 million gap the two Marks kept crowing about was filled with the #336 million in revenue from the hotel development in my plan. The Coliseum Reboot stadium, at 68,000 seats, and expandable to 72,000, would have 300 very affordable suites and have as it’s brother a new Oakland A’s stadium and a 300,000 square foot retail complex.
So, folks, anyone, including Mayor Schaaf, who tells you this can’t be done without public money is just plain wrong. I created the idea and all it takes is a sit down for me to prove it.
So, you’re probably saying that I too want the spotlight? Well, no because I have my own. My only point is the Libby and Mark have to really reduce their egos, actively listen, and be open to new approaches.
Then we just might get that new NFL Raiders Stadium Oakland so richly deserves.
Stay tuned.
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http://youtu.be/e6ekIwCeT5I