NFL Has Davis Boxed Out

Although the Raiders have gone ahead with their plans for a permanent training camp, the luxury boxes Al Davis wants to build in the Coliseum remain on the drawing board.

Davis places the blame squarely on the National Football League, which hasn’t quit trying to return the Raiders to Oakland.

“The NFL has put every obstacle possible in our way,” Davis said. “It has drained us emotionally and economically. We’ve had a cloud of uncertainty over us ever since we moved to Los Angeles and they’ve kept it there.

“We’re one of only three teams left in professional football that don’t have luxury boxes. This has given the Rams and other teams in the league a five-year head start on us in terms of economic growth.

“Everything is ready to go and has been for five years. The money--$12 to $15 million--is in place and we have over 100 commitments from box buyers, plus an agreement with USC (on use of the boxes for Trojan football games).

“Until we get final adjudication, and we expect it shortly, the boxes will have to wait.”

Davis points to the 1985 NFL schedule to support his claim that the league is still hassling the Raiders. The Rams and Raiders play at home at the same time on four Sundays this season.

“When we were in Oakland, they’d schedule us and the 49ers opposite each other maybe once, and then they’d at least ask permission to do it,” Davis said.

“We have to go head-to-head with the Rams for fans, concessions, programs, radio time, and we’re at a financial disadvantage because we don’t have the boxes and haven’t had them for five years while the Rams have them. “Now that we’re in this strong competition with the Rams, we want to establish ourselves not only in the local Los Angeles area, but in Long Beach, Anaheim, San Bernardino. We want to make Raider football a way of life, not just an event.”

That’s one of the reasons why the Raiders decided to go ahead and make Oxnard their permanent training camp site despite the uncertainty.

“One of the major reasons for our success was the tremendous practice facility we had in Santa Rosa, and we think we have the same thing in Oxnard. It took a long time to find it, but it’s just what we were looking for.”