The San Francisco 49ers and Oakland Raiders used to face each other every preseason, and typically took part in some joint practices before those games. In 2011, fan violence escalated to such an extent that the preseason series was cancelled.
Since then, there have been sporadic mentions about it potentially resuming at some point, including March of last year when both Jack Del Rio and John Lynch said they hoped it could happen again. When the schedule released in April, the game was not on it and here we are once again, in March, with talk of the series coming back.
Raiders owner Mark Davis spoke at league meetings on Sunday, and one of the things he talked about was the preseason matchups with the 49ers. Davis said he doesn’t “think there’s a problem” with restarting the series, but that “others” will make that decision, as reported by Matt Maiocco of NBC Sports.
Mark Davis said he’s not averse to the restarting of the #Raiders-#49ers preseason series. “I don’t think there’s a problem,” he said.
— Matt Maiocco (@MaioccoNBCS) March 25, 2018
Could it restart this year? “We’ll see. . . That’s for others to make a decision on." https://t.co/1cxsP1w9H2
With the Raiders set to move to Las Vegas, I personally don’t see the point in resuming the series. I haven’t felt strongly about the 49ers-Raiders rivalry in ages to begin with, though some of that has to do with me covering the NFL at large and spending time around Raiders players and personnel.
But I can also see why some people like it. I don’t know if the risk of fighting is any higher or lower today than it was in 2011 though, so it might just be best to let it go.