The City of Oakland threatened to file a lawsuit at the start of the season of the Oakland Raiders ever decided to pack up and leave. They made good on their promise after it became evident that the Raiders were planning to move to Las Vegas, Nevada.
The City of Oakland filed a federal lawsuit against the Raiders and the National Football League (NFL) which was referred to as a cartel in the lawsuit. It was interesting to see the City of Oakland move forward with its threat to file a lawsuit given the fact that Raiders owner Mark Davis had made it clear that if a lawsuit was ever filed against them, they would never play in Oakland again.
The lawsuit was filed in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California after the Oakland City Council gave Attorney Barbara J. Parker the green light to proceed. The lawsuit is seeking damages that will result from the Raiders leaving Oakland City and moving to Las Vegas.
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The City of Oakland termed the move to Las Vegas as illegal and wants compensation for the Raiders boycotting Oakland, the millions in lost revenue and the investment that Oakland taxpayers had made into the Raiders over the years. The lawsuit is not looking for a decision that will keep the Riders in Oakland nor prevent the Raiders from going to Las Vegas. The main focus of the lawsuit is to claim the maximum amount of damages available including legal fees.
The Raiders at the moment do not have a lease to play anywhere and Mark Davis has also softened his stance about never playing in Oakland again even though they now face a lawsuit. He admitted that they would like to play in Oakland and not desert their loyal fans but he will look at a number of options.
In a statement, Davis said
Emotionally, I would say, why would I give them $3 million, $4 million, $5 million in rent that they’re going to turn around and use to sue me? But, at the same time, if they’ll have us, I can’t turn on the fans. I can’t do it. And this is terrible negotiating I’m doing now. I’m going to get killed. But that’s just the way I am. But, if in fact it does get ugly, and can’t be bridged, we do have options.
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