Birmingham city councilor recruiting teams to play at Legion Field

BIRMINGHAM, AL (WBRC) - A Birmingham city councilman is hitting the road this week looking to bring more sports to the Magic City.

On Tuesday, the Birmingham City Council approved travel expenses for Councilman William Parker. Parker said he plans a trip this week to Tucson, Arizona, to meet with an attorney there who hopes to team with Birmingham to get the NFL’s Oakland Raiders to split their home schedule between the two cities in 2019.

The Raiders are still looking for a place to play their games for the 2019 season. The Raiders plan to move to Las Vegas next year.

According to reports, talks have resumed with Oakland to stay in that city this year. But Councilman William Parker said there is still hope of bringing the Raiders to Birmingham. He believes teaming up with Tucson should make their case that Legion Field could provide a temporary home for the team.

“There is still a lot of due diligence going on. The fact the Raiders have not told us no and they have not said yes to anyone else, I think there is a lot of movement. Excited about the opportunity to bring the Raiders to Birmingham,” Parker said.

Later this week, Parker will be in Arizona. This weekend, Parker will be in Atlanta hoping to lure more historical black colleges to play a football game here at Legion Field during the year. Parker said there is a lot of potential uses for the stadium.