OAKLAND, Calif. (Legal Newsline) – Oakland, California has filed a suit against the NFL and others over the decision to relocate the Raiders to Las Vegas, Nevada.
The city of Oakland filed a complaint on Dec. 11 in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California against The Oakland Raiders, Arizona Cardinals Football Club LLC, The National Football League, et al. alleging violation of the Sherman Act.
According to the complaint, in 2017, the Raiders announced that it was leaving Oakland for Las Vegas.
"The defendants’ unlawful conduct has caused plaintiff significant injury and loss," the suit states. "Among other things, plaintiff has lost the value of its significant investment in the Raiders, is burdened with a stadium of significantly diminished value, and has lost the revenues generated by the Raiders’ continuing presence. Defendants disregarded every objective factor in the relocation policies when they collectively agreed to relocate the Raiders from Oakland, thus concertedly boycotting and refusing to deal with Oakland on objective terms in an effort to maximize their payments, as well as leveraging their monopoly power, by charging supra-competitive prices to another host city (Las Vegas) and the consuming public (fans) for the presence of a professional football team."
The plaintiff holds The Oakland Raiders, Arizona Cardinals Football Club LLC, and The National Football League, et al. responsible because the defendants allegedly violated the Sherman Act by engaging in a contract, combination or conspiracy in restraint of trade and interstate commerce.
The plaintiff requests a trial by jury and seeks an amount to be determined at trial, costs and attorneys’ fees. It is represented by Barbara J. Parker, Otis McGee Jr., Maria Bee, and Erin Bernstein of Oakland City Attorney, in Oakland, California and others.
U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California case number 3:18-cv-07444-JCS