Raiders execs have said that they won't sign any future lease agreement at the Coliseum if a lawsuit is filedGETTY IMAGES
The Oakland City Council has "authorized a multimillion-dollar antitrust lawsuit against the NFL and the Raiders over the team's impending move to Las Vegas," which could "result in the team leaving Oakland at the end of the upcoming season," according to a front-page piece by Matier & Ross of the S.F. CHRONICLE. Oakland Councilman Noel Gallo said that the lawsuit is "expected to be filed and announced within days, probably before the Raiders' home opener" against the Rams at Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum on Monday. Outside attorneys have agreed to "cover all the up-front costs of the suit, which will likely seek millions of dollars in damages for the team's exit." In exchange, the firms would "collect a portion of whatever dollar damages they are able to extract" from the team and the NFL. Gallo said that a lawsuit against the league and the Raiders "could result in winning damages" of up to $500M. Coliseum Authority Exec Dir Scott McKibben, who has been working to finalize the Raiders' latest lease extension, said that team execs "warned him that they won't sign any agreement if the lawsuit is filed." The team is currently "under a year-to-year lease with the Coliseum Authority." The Raiders have been "working on a new deal to play at the Coliseum next season and possibly the one after that if their Las Vegas stadium isn't ready." Oakland's decision to sue was "made in the past week without the approval of either the Coliseum directors of the Alameda County Board of Supervisors" (S.F. CHRONICLE, 9/5).
SWING VOTE: In San Jose, David DeBolt in a front-page piece cites a source as saying that Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf, who was previously "on the fence about the lawsuit, was on board so long as the city's legal fees were covered." Former Oakland Council member Ignacio De La Fuente, a current Coliseum Authority board member, said that city leadership "did little to keep the Raiders from leaving" and called the lawsuit "ridiculous." De La Fuente said, "You are going to expose the city to potential liabilities and for what? You are trying to excuse yourself from not doing s--- about it" (San Jose MERCURY NEWS, 9/5).
HOUSE HUNTERS: The Athletic's Tim Kawakami in a series of tweets addressed where the Raiders could play in '19: "It will be messy but they will end up at the Coliseum again in 2019 and maybe even in 2020 if the Vegas stadium is delayed. Where else can the Coliseum Authority get $3.7M in rent? And Mark Davis can't stand Levi's Stadium. ... The most sensible temporary option for the Raiders, if the Coliseum isn't viable for them after this season, is Levi's. The NFL has ALWAYS thought it was Levi's. Mark Davis has always rejected that, though." Kawakami added he has "not heard any serious talk about Sam Boyd Stadium as a true option," as the venue is "just not set up for the NFL." Stanford "would never approve an NFL team playing temporarily in its stadium," and "neither would Cal." San Jose State's CEFCU Stadium "isn't close to NFL standards" (TWITTER.com, 9/5).
