NFL stadiums have been painting their 50-yard lines gold in honor of the 50th Super Bowl, set to be held this February in Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara, Calif. Only, there's a dissenter among the ranks. O.co Coliseum, home of the Oakland Raiders, is the only stadium among 31 NFL stadiums through two weeks to not take part in the celebration.
But that will all change once baseball season ends.
Raiders owner Mark Davis said Wednesday the club will paint the 50-yard lines gold once the Athletics wrap up their 2015 campaign. "Nobody respects the Super Bowl more than the Raiders," Davis said.
Davis' remarks backup what NFL vice president of communications told the Sports Business Journal this week. However, they contradict what Chris Wright, a vice president for AEG Facilities and the Coliseum's general manager, told the Journal.
"It has nothing to do with baseball," Wright said. "The last six home baseball games are through this weekend, and there will be no gold marks for the rest of the Raiders' regular season."
But Davis has spoken, and the Raiders won't go rogue after all. At least we'll always have our conspiracy theories, right Mike Florio?
While no reason has been provided the refusal to comply, Occam's Razer suggests that the Raiders don't want to acknowledge a Super Bowl that will be played down the road in Santa Clara, home of the 49ers. At one level, that's because the two teams don't get along. At another level, it's because the 49ers had no interest in sharing their swanky new stadium with the Raiders.
At yet another level, it's possibly a great big eff you to a league that arguably isn't doing all that much to help the Raiders find a solution to its longstanding stadium woes.
It's a shame when reality spoils a good narrative.
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