City of Oakland files federal lawsuit against Raiders and NFL

[True Dough]

ALAMEDA, Calif. -- What had been threatened since the first week of the season became reality Tuesday when the city of Oakland announced it has filed a federal lawsuit against the Raiders and the NFL.

The suit, which was filed in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California, puts into question where the Raiders will play in 2019, the season before their planned move to Las Vegas. The Raiders do not have a lease for a home next year and team owner Mark Davis has said he will not play in Oakland if a lawsuit were ever filed -- though Davis has recently softened that stance.

In a news release announcing the suit, which also referred to the NFL as a "cartel," Oakland City Attorney Barbara J. Parker "recommended and the Oakland City Council authorized filing the lawsuit to recover damages resulting from the Raiders' illegal move to Las Vegas, including lost revenue, money that Oakland taxpayers invested in the Raiders and other costs."

The release stated that by approving the team's move to Las Vegas, the league was "boycotting Oakland in the marketplace for hosting a football club" and, thus, "violated federal antitrust laws while the Raiders' move also violated the NFL's own policies for team relocation."

http://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/25511689/city-oakland-files-federal-lawsuit-raiders-nfl

[mr_lebowski]

1. As a Die-Hard Raider fan (first game at Coliseum: 1975) ... this should be interesting

Sounds like they're just looking for damages, not like they actually think they can block the move.

I wish they could, I'm going to be terribly upset when they're no longer my Oakland Raiders (I was born in O-town, matter of fact), but I don't see that being even possible to pull off.

Whole thing really sucks ...

[Auggie]

2. I wish Oakland luck