Texans owner McNair weighs in on Raiders' possible move to San Antonio
HOUSTON - Due to ongoing negotiations to get the Oakland Raiders a new stadium, team owner Mark Davis met recently with several San Antonio officials to discuss the potential of moving the team to the Alamo City according to the San Antonio Express-News. Houston Texans owner Bob McNair weighed in on the situation during Wednesday morning's practice at training camp.
"The Raiders need a new stadium, and they're going to be visiting with any city that is interested in them and offering the prospects of a new stadium," McNair said. "It's not surprising at all that they visited San Antonio."
McNair, who is chairman of the finance committee, would be directly involved in the process to move the Raiders franchise. As of now, the Texans owner is withholding judgment on the situation until more facts are collected.
"It's a question of where is the best place," McNair said. "So that's how I would look at it, it just depends on what the options are."
McNair said he isn't concerned about three teams potentially playing in the state of Texas, and if San Antonio is the best place to relocate, he wouldn't be against the Raiders moving there despite the close proximity to Houston.
"I wouldn't oppose it just because it's in San Antonio," McNair said. "I'm in favor of doing what strengthens the league where it makes since. We need to have strong franchises; we want to be a competitive league for a long time. To do that, you got to have strong franchises wherever they are."
The Raiders, like the Texans, play in the AFC, but McNair doesn't think the potential move to San Antonio would cut into his team's fan base in the city.
"We have a growing fan base there and it's going to continue to grow," McNair said. "If there was a team there and we were over there playing, I think half of the fans would be ours. So it would be a difficult situation, I think, for San Antonio."
McNair's Texas counterpart, Dallas Cowboys owner/GM Jerry Jones, also didn't seem worried about San Antonio fans changing alliances if the Raiders move to the city.
"I don't make a lot of this," Jones told the media Tuesday at Cowboys training camp. "It's not something I'm at all, or necessarily would be, familiar with. Again, my interest in San Antonio is because how important it is to the Cowboys and our history of having our training camp there and the fact that we've got such a tremendous fan base in San Antonio."
The Raiders lease at O.co Coliseum ends at the conclusion of the upcoming season. The team has also been linked to possibly moving to other cities as well, such as Los Angeles, where the Raiders called home from 1982-1994.
Follow Shawn Ramsey on Twitter: @ShawnPRamsey
