© Kyle Terada | 2017 Oct 8
The 2018 season could be the Raiders’ last in the city of Oakland. That’s according to longtime San Francisco Chronicle reporters Phil Matier and Andy Ross, who dropped a story on Tuesday night saying that the City of Oakland is planning a multi-million dollar antitrust lawsuit against the NFL and Raiders, who will be moving to Las Vegas sometime around 2020.
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 — legal action that Coliseum officials said could result in the team leaving Oakland at the end of the upcoming season.
Oakland Councilman Noel Gallo said Tuesday that the lawsuit is expected to be filed and announced within days, probably before the Raiders’ home opener at the Coliseum on Monday night against the Los Angeles Rams.
The suit will likely seek damages upwards of $500 million for the team’s exit. According to Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum Authority Executive Director Scott McKibben, the Raiders will not sign an extension on their year-to-year lease at the Coliseum for next season if the lawsuit is filed.
“They told me we might as well take the contract and rip it up,” McKibben said via the Chronicle.
“According to sources, that deal — expected to be voted on by the authority’s board within a matter of weeks — would net the city and county $3.7 million next year and $5 million the following year, if the team extended its stay,” write Matier & Ross.
Read the full story here.