The Raiders yesterday "began to pursue" $800M in
damages from East Bay taxpayers and private deal-makers,
after a judge ruled that the team must remain in Oakland,
according to Renee Koury of the SAN JOSE MERCURY NEWS.
Although Sacramento County Superior Court Judge Joe Gray
said that he "will probably uphold an earlier ruling" that
the Raiders can't void their '95 lease at Network Associates
Coliseum, he "left it to a jury to weigh" team Owner Al
Davis' claim that public officials "conned him into
believing" the Coliseum was sold out. As a result, Raiders
attorney Ken Hausman said that the team "probably would
pursue" its $800M fraud claim alleging lost revenues from
ticket sales, parking fees, concessions and team value
rather than appealing the ruling keeping them in Oakland.
The team will also "amend [its] claim to target the city and
county for at least part of the damages instead of just
private deal-makers and accountants who put together the
original 16-year lease agreement." A verdict for the
Raiders "would sock the East Bay with even more Coliseum
debt," as taxpayers are already paying millions of dollars
in annual subsidies over the next 25 years because of "poor
ticket sales." But attorneys for Oakland and Alameda County
say that public agencies are protected by state law from
paying fraud damages (SAN JOSE MERCURY NEWS, 2/23). A
ruling in favor of the Raiders would allow the team to seek
only monetary damages and would not allow it to attempt to
"dissolve its stadium lease as the product of an unfair
contract" (S.F. CHRONICLE, 2/23). Coliseum attorney Jeffrey
Kessler, who said that the Raiders' contract with the city
contains no sellout guarantees: "I don't think anybody will
call Al (Davis) a naive businessman in the sports industry.
He was quite knowledgeable, if not expert, in issues like
ticket sales" (CONTRA COSTA TIMES, 2/23).
SCHEDULE: Judge Gray is expected to issue a final
ruling on the team's lease "within several weeks" and will
try to abide by the wishes of both sides who want the trial
to end before the football season (C.C. TIMES, 2/23).
