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Raiders may be interested in playing in Glendale in 2019, ESPN report says

The Raiders are moving to Las Vegas in 2020, but don't have anywhere to play yet in 2019.
Credit: Norm Hall/Getty Images

GLENDALE, Ariz. - As weird as it sounds, the Valley could, possibly be home to two NFL teams next season.

As ESPN's Paul Gutierrez reported Friday, the Raiders don't currently have anywhere to play next season. The team is moving to Las Vegas from Oakland, but that $1.9 billion stadium isn't going to be ready until 2020.

The Raiders don't have a lease to play anywhere next year. And, this week, the city of Oakland filed a federal lawsuit against the team, the NFL and the NFL's 31 other teams for approving the Raiders' relocation to Vegas.

If that lawsuit is successful, the Raiders might not even be able to move to Vegas in 2020.

With the NHL's Vegas Golden Knights as the only other professional sports team in the city, the Raiders wouldn't be able to use another team's stadium, like the Los Angeles Chargers are using the StubHub Center, the home of the MLS' Los Angeles Galaxy while waiting for their new stadium to be built. 

Unless, the Raiders wanted to try to use UNLV's football stadium, which could seat around 40,000 people. But, as Gutierrez reports, that would require pretty much a complete overhaul including expanded locker rooms, new artificial turf and more.

It really comes down to whether the San Francisco 49ers would let the Raiders play at Levi Stadium in Santa Clara, which doesn't sound promising as Raiders owner Mark Davis apparently wants nothing to do with that.

Gutirrez suggests Davis wants to get out of the Bay Area as soon as possible. 

A more realistic suggestion might be the closest NFL stadium to Las Vegas, State Farm Stadium in Glendale, home of the Arizona Cardinals.

Other options include moving to the San Diego for 2019 and taking over the former home of the Chargers, SDCCU Stadium (formerly Qualcomm Stadium). 

Team 12's Cameron Cox suggests San Antonio's Alamodome, which housed the New Orleans Saints after Hurricane Katrina in 2005, could be a viable option.

But, Glendale is closer to Vegas than both San Diego and San Antonio. The question is, would the Cardinals have them?

According to Glendale City Manager Kevin Phelps, the Cardinals don't need the city's permission to share the facility. But, Phelps said due to the possible (and obvious) economic benefits of having an NFL game in Glendale nearly every weekend, the city would be supportive.

"While we haven’t analyzed what the impact would be to the region, what we do know is that every event held in State Farm Stadium is good for the local economy," Phelps said. "If the Cardinals decide it is in their best interest to facilitate another team playing in the stadium, Glendale will be both excited and supportive."

Either way, it's surprising the Raiders haven't nailed this down yet and it's going to have to happen soon. With this new federal lawsuit, you can bet Mark Davis would want to get as far away from the Bay Area as possible.

Who knows, State Farm Stadium could be the home of the Cardinals and the Raiders next year. The two teams are two of the three worst in the NFL this season. Fans could get the chance to watch the No. 1 and No. 2 overall picks in next year's draft play half a season each in Glendale. 

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