Raiders Chief Exec Amy Trask Saturday night said the team "will remain in the Davis family" following the death of Owner Al Davis Saturday, adding there is a succession plan in place in that regard,” according to Vittorio Tafur of the S.F. CHRONICLE. There had been speculation that Davis’ wife, Carol, and son, Mark, “would sell the controlling interest in the team once he died, that is not the case.” Mark Davis “probably will hire a general manager, but in the short term, Mark Davis will make football decisions, along with head coach Hue Jackson.” Al Davis before his death had said that “control of the team would go to Carol and Mark when he died.” Tafur notes Trask seemingly “will take on an even bigger role on the business side, like continuing to work on a new stadium plan.” Trask said that the team “will go into more detail in the coming days.” More probably will be revealed “with regard to Mark Davis' plans when NFL owners meet Tuesday in Houston.” Al Davis had owned 67% of the Raiders, “but that dropped to 47 percent in 2007 when he sold a 20 percent interest to a group of investors led by East Coast businessmen David Abrams, director of the Abrams Capital investment firm, Paul Leff, founder of the Perry Corp. money-management firm, and Dan Goldring, managing director at Perry Corp.” The deal gave the group “no control of the franchise at the time of the sale or in the future” (S.F. CHRONICLE, 10/10). USA TODAY’s Jon Saraceno reports “no estate battles are anticipated” following Davis’ death. Mark Davis “has been affiliated with the franchise for his entire life but has not had an official capacity.” NFL radio analyst and former Cowboys VP/Player Personnel Gil Brandt said that Trask “would help stabilize the franchise on the business side as she retained her role” (USA TODAY, 10/10). In Oakland, Jerry McDonald wrote “in keeping with the secrecy inherent in the organization, little is known about how the club will function in terms of day-to-day operations” (OAKLAND TRIBUNE, 10/9).
WHAT HAPPENS NOW? CSNBAYAREA.com's Ray Ratto noted it is "not yet known whether Carol and Mark also inherit the title and powers of managing general partner, which conferred all the voting stock power in Al’s hands.” It is believed that “Mark wants to maintain ownership in Oakland, but that may not be possible with the current laws regarding estate planning.” It is not known whether “the present investors would have the ability to pick up the available options without having to find new ones” (CSNBAYAREA.com, 10/8). NFL Network's Jason La Canfora reported Davis was "very interested in some of the changes afoot in Washington regarding the tax ramifications of estates in passing things on to your heirs." Because of that, there are a "lot of people in the league who feel like there’s a possibility of bringing in another partner here to co-manage the team and be a part of that ownership group in some capacity.” Mark Davis "hasn’t displayed that same willingness" to have the final say in all matters like his father had, and he "doesn’t have the same resume of Al Davis, so certainly changes are afoot." People around the NFL indicated that "one of the issues Davis was championing towards the end, in the last two years, was the idea of lowering the percentage by which you could maintain controlling interest of a team” ("NFL Gameday Morning," NFL Network, 10/9).
COULD A SALE COME? ESPN.com’s Bill Williamson wrote sales rumors are expected "to persist.” He added, “While I’m sure everything will be on the table, I have a difficult time seeing the Davis family parting ways with the team. Everyone knows what owning the Raiders meant to Davis, and I‘m sure he would never want the control of the team to fall outside of his family” (ESPN.com, 10/8). But SI's Peter King reported there are a "lot of owners in the league who would love to see them sell and would love to see the Raiders go back to Los Angeles" ("Football Night In America," NBC, 10/9). An owner earlier this year said, “Al tried to float the idea that Mark would run the team, but most people look at that as Al’s dream, not a reality. I don’t see any way Mark holds onto the team. He’s just going to cash out” (SPORTS.YAHOO.com, 10/8).
WILL TEAM MOVE BACK TO L.A.? In L.A., Sam Farmer wrote Davis' death "will bring new questions, among them: Are the Raiders now a strong candidate to return to the Los Angeles market? Will a new owner try to re-brand the franchise in an attempt to broaden its fan base? Does this increase the likelihood of the Raiders further strengthening their relationship with their Bay Area neighbors and possible joining the San Francisco 49ers’ effort to finance a new stadium, one the teams could share” (L.A. TIMES, 10/9). In Jacksonville, Vito Stellino wrote the NFL “now controls the Los Angeles market and wasn’t keen on him [Davis] getting that lucrative market in a new stadium.” But without him, “the Raiders make sense as the team to go there.” Stellino added, “They’re having trouble selling tickets in Oakland, the Bay Area already has the 49ers and the Raiders have a fan base in Los Angeles from their previous stay” (FLORIDA TIMES-UNION, 10/9).
ALWAYS A RAIDER: GRANTLAND.com's Chuck Klosterman wrote no one person has "ever personified a sports organization the way" Davis "embodied the Raiders, and no one ever will." It is "difficult to visualize another man who could coach a team, then manage that team, and then own the team." He was the "final survivor of pro football's seminal period; he designed the way aggressive teams play, he was the heart of the AFL, and he was the last man to carry the total burden of a team for his entire adult life." Klosterman: "He was the Raiders" (GRANTLAND.com, 10/8). In S.F., FitzGerald, Kroner & Chapin wrote no other owner "in modern professional sports history has dominated his franchise as thoroughly and for as long" as Davis (S.F. CHRONICLE, 10/9). ESPN's Bill Williamson wrote it is "safe to write that no other owner in professional sports history was as closely involved in his team's operations as Davis" (ESPN.com, 10/8). CSNBAYAREA.com's Matt Maiocco wrote, "It's difficult to think of another organization in all of sports that has been as closely associated with one person" (CSNBAYAREA.com, 10/8). Fox' Curt Menefee said, "No single team and maybe its fan base is more identified with its owner like Raider Nation has been with Al Davis for the last 50 years, and you’ve got a feeling that image will continue” (“Fox NFL Sunday,” Fox, 10/9). In San Jose, Mark Purdy: "He deserves every piece of credit for the team's spectacular achievements (five Super Bowl appearances, three victories) and its immense failures (the fitful wreckage and non-winning seasons since 2003). ... Davis did not merely have the final say on everything. He had the only say" (MERCURYNEWS.com, 10/8). Former Raiders TE Raymond Chester said, "You just did not ever even imagine a time when he wouldn't be at the helm of the Raider organization" (S.F. CHRONICLE, 10/9).
