Al Davis Sits Out Stadium Meeting : Pro football: Absence raises question of Raider owner’s commitment to Los Angeles. Oakland remains in the picture.

A team of NFL executives and Hollywood Park officials, meeting in Denver on Thursday, drew closer to a deal for the construction of a $200-million football stadium in Inglewood, but one key player in the agreement is still missing.

It is--who else?--Al Davis.

The Raider owner did not attend the Denver meeting, causing league insiders to wonder for the first time whether he would walk away from one of the top three stadium deals in the league.

Davis has been negotiating with Oakland officials about returning to the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum next season. Oakland officials have promised by the start of the 1996 season $85 million in stadium improvements, including 118 new luxury boxes.

Although those talks had been considered nothing more than a leverage-gaining maneuver--no different from Davis’ countless threats to move in the past--his absence from Thursday’s meeting caused concern.

Davis has told friends he will make a decision by Monday.

Not coincidentally, R.D. Hubbard, Hollywood Park’s chief executive officer, told the league he would give them an answer by Monday or Tuesday.

Sources say Hubbard seems willing to accept the principles of a lease that would allow him to receive all of the rent from a second NFL tenant, a team that would begin playing in the Inglewood stadium in 1998, a year after it opens. Davis would receive a fee amounting to half of what he invests in the construction project.

Hubbard also appears willing to begin construction without the $20 million Davis requested from the league, a major hurdle early in the negotiations.

Davis and Hubbard met Friday, according to NFL sources, and are expected to spend the weekend negotiating the final portion of a deal that league officials believe is two-thirds complete.

“We expect Hubbard to either call us and say we have an agreement in principle, or call us and say he just can’t deal with Al Davis anymore and the whole thing is off,” said one league executive.

Said another official: “The good news is that the meeting with Hubbard went well. The bad news is that Al was not there. Nobody actually believes Al would walk away from all this, but you can never tell for sure.”

If Davis returns to Oakland, the future of pro football in Los Angeles would be uncertain. It would be too late for the league to move a team here this year, but executives could scramble to have a new L.A. team for 1996.

Meanwhile, negotiations with Hollywood Park would continue, although the league would probably rework its offer of two Super Bowls in the next 10 years because that offer was contingent on the Raiders remaining in town.

Because of a vow of secrecy, no NFL official or owner would comment on developments. Neither Hubbard nor Davis returned phone calls.

The question remains why Davis would turn his back on his dream of a state-of-the-art stadium in Inglewood when, after 14 years of planning, it is just a signature away from becoming a reality.

Skeptics might figure he is simply taking the art of negotiating in public to a new level.

But sources close to Davis insist that the only game Davis is concerned with is the one on the field.

It might be hard for the doubters to believe, says one confident, but Davis doesn’t consider rental agreements or lease conditions or financial gain his top priority. He is 65, he has a team he considers Super Bowl material and he is determined to get back to football’s big show for the first time in 11 years.

Although he fired Coach Art Shell, a longtime friend, and has given new Coach Mike White the green light to dramatically alter long-held philosophies about the offense, Davis still is seeking the winning edge. He feels that the one thing he doesn’t have is a true home-field advantage.

If Davis decides to remain in Los Angeles, the Raiders would play the next two seasons in the Coliseum, which is half empty for their games.

According to friends, Davis feels fans there are removed from the action and some seem more interested in venting their frustration on each other than focusing that energy on opposing teams.

In the best-case scenario, the Raiders would play at the Coliseum for two years. Davis is worried that if the stadium project is delayed, if there are funding or legal problems, if a natural disaster should arise, a 1997 opening could turn into 1998 or beyond.

On the other hand, Davis tells friends, he could be back in Oakland immediately and sees himself back in the comforts of an old home where the fans can be expected to fill the park, resume their love affair with the team, bellow their rage at the opposition and generally provide the kind of home-field advantage he sees in places such as Kansas City, Dallas and Buffalo.

Los Angeles Raiders or Oakland Raiders? Which one will it be?