the shadow

http://www.sfgate.com

JIM WASSERMAN, Associated Press Writer


The Oakland Raiders scored a partial victory in court Tuesday, as a jury
awarded the team $44.2 million and found Oakland coliseum officials had
acted negligently when negotiating to bring the team back from Los Angeles
by promising a packed stadium.

The verdict in the team's suit was far less than the $570 million to $833
million it sought to compensate for low ticket sales and the declining value
of the franchise by 2010 when the contract expires.

Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum, its chief negotiator Ed DeSilva and the
now-defunct Arthur Andersen accounting firm were accused with intentionally
misleading the team. The coliseum also faced charges of negligent
misrepresentation and breach of good faith in negotiating.

The jury in Sacramento County Superior Court Tuesday ruled the coliseum had
acted negligently, but said none of the defendants intentionally
misrepresented ticket sales.

The loser was expected to appeal the verdict reached after nearly three
weeks of jury deliberations. The nine women and three men heard nearly four
months of testimony from 45 witnesses and had more than 600 pieces of
evidence to consider.

The case dates to 1995 as legendary Raiders owner Al Davis maneuvered to get
his team out of Southern California after revenues waned, the Los Angeles
Memorial Coliseum's foundation was shaken by an earthquake and a deal
collapsed to build a new stadium at a horse track.

Davis, 74, who testified for six days, said he was partly motivated to
return to Oakland for sentimental reasons: he got his first professional
head coaching job there in 1963 and the team played there until he moved
south in 1982.

But his primary reason was money. Davis said coliseum officials promised a


agreement and that he couldn't get promises in writing after a citizen
revolt jettisoned a deal to return in 1990 because it promised $38 million a
year in revenue for the team.

"From that day on, the word guarantee was not allowed in our vocabulary or
their vocabulary," Davis testified. "They could not give guarantees."

The deal gave the Raiders a $53 million loan, $10 million for a training
complex and $100 million to renovate the coliseum, which is shared with the
Oakland Athletics.

The defense, which said team owners got richer by moving to Oakland, said
Davis was told by a number of officials that the stadium was not sold out
when he signed the pact on Aug. 7, 1995.

In order to buy season tickets, fans had to pay between $250 and $4,000 for
the 10-year license to those seats.

But sales were not as brisk as expected and optimistic news of sellouts was
overshadowed later by word that about 10 percent of applications failed when
checks bounced or credit cards were rejected.

A key piece of evidence in the Raiders case was a press release issued by
the coliseum weeks before the deal was inked announcing the stadium had been
sold out for the upcoming season and most of 1996. The Raiders lawyer
claimed the coliseum knew the claim was a lie, but kept the true figures
hidden from Davis.

The defense, however, pointed out that the figures at the time were accurate
because deposits for seats had not been rejected for lack of payment and the
release indicated that mid-priced seats were still available. They also
criticized Davis, a savvy businessman, for relying on press releases, which
he acknowledged were sometimes promotional "puff."

Numerous news accounts based on the release pointed out that the tickets had
not sold out, but Davis and other team officials said they never saw those
reports.

The coliseum's lawyer also said any box office flop should be partly blamed
on high ticket prices and some poor performances on the field, including the
team's abysmal 4-12 season in its third season after returning, the worst
since the year Davis took over 40 years ago.

Davis' lengthy career has been marked by a bruising style of play that has
made his team the winningest in football and for an aggressive business
approach that has made the organization the most litigious in the NFL.

The team's logo is a pirate, and Davis has done battle in court with other
teams, the IRS and the NFL.

He sued the NFL to leave Oakland and won and sued the NFL when he moved
back. He has avoided paying taxes on windfalls by challenging the IRS in
court.

The coliseum suit is similar to one the Raiders lost two years ago in Los
Angeles. Davis claimed the NFL owed him $1.2 billion for spiking the deal to
build a new stadium at the Hollywood Park race track. A judge ordered a new
trial because of juror misconduct, but the NFL is appealing.

Davis said he never would have ended up in Oakland if the NFL hadn't blocked
that deal.

the shadow

http://www.sfgate.com

JIM WASSERMAN, Associated Press Writer


The Oakland Raiders scored a partial victory in court Tuesday, as a jury
awarded the team $44.2 million and found Oakland coliseum officials had
acted negligently when negotiating to bring the team back from Los Angeles
by promising a packed stadium.

The verdict in the team's suit was far less than the $570 million to $833
million it sought to compensate for low ticket sales and the declining value
of the franchise by 2010 when the contract expires.

Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum, its chief negotiator Ed DeSilva and the
now-defunct Arthur Andersen accounting firm were accused with intentionally
misleading the team. The coliseum also faced charges of negligent
misrepresentation and breach of good faith in negotiating.

The jury in Sacramento County Superior Court Tuesday ruled the coliseum had
acted negligently, but said none of the defendants intentionally
misrepresented ticket sales.

The loser was expected to appeal the verdict reached after nearly three
weeks of jury deliberations. The nine women and three men heard nearly four
months of testimony from 45 witnesses and had more than 600 pieces of
evidence to consider.

The case dates to 1995 as legendary Raiders owner Al Davis maneuvered to get
his team out of Southern California after revenues waned, the Los Angeles
Memorial Coliseum's foundation was shaken by an earthquake and a deal
collapsed to build a new stadium at a horse track.

Davis, 74, who testified for six days, said he was partly motivated to
return to Oakland for sentimental reasons: he got his first professional
head coaching job there in 1963 and the team played there until he moved
south in 1982.

But his primary reason was money. Davis said coliseum officials promised a


agreement and that he couldn't get promises in writing after a citizen
revolt jettisoned a deal to return in 1990 because it promised $38 million a
year in revenue for the team.

"From that day on, the word guarantee was not allowed in our vocabulary or
their vocabulary," Davis testified. "They could not give guarantees."

The deal gave the Raiders a $53 million loan, $10 million for a training
complex and $100 million to renovate the coliseum, which is shared with the
Oakland Athletics.

The defense, which said team owners got richer by moving to Oakland, said
Davis was told by a number of officials that the stadium was not sold out
when he signed the pact on Aug. 7, 1995.

In order to buy season tickets, fans had to pay between $250 and $4,000 for
the 10-year license to those seats.

But sales were not as brisk as expected and optimistic news of sellouts was
overshadowed later by word that about 10 percent of applications failed when
checks bounced or credit cards were rejected.

A key piece of evidence in the Raiders case was a press release issued by
the coliseum weeks before the deal was inked announcing the stadium had been
sold out for the upcoming season and most of 1996. The Raiders lawyer
claimed the coliseum knew the claim was a lie, but kept the true figures
hidden from Davis.

The defense, however, pointed out that the figures at the time were accurate
because deposits for seats had not been rejected for lack of payment and the
release indicated that mid-priced seats were still available. They also
criticized Davis, a savvy businessman, for relying on press releases, which
he acknowledged were sometimes promotional "puff."

Numerous news accounts based on the release pointed out that the tickets had
not sold out, but Davis and other team officials said they never saw those
reports.

The coliseum's lawyer also said any box office flop should be partly blamed
on high ticket prices and some poor performances on the field, including the
team's abysmal 4-12 season in its third season after returning, the worst
since the year Davis took over 40 years ago.

Davis' lengthy career has been marked by a bruising style of play that has
made his team the winningest in football and for an aggressive business
approach that has made the organization the most litigious in the NFL.

The team's logo is a pirate, and Davis has done battle in court with other
teams, the IRS and the NFL.

He sued the NFL to leave Oakland and won and sued the NFL when he moved
back. He has avoided paying taxes on windfalls by challenging the IRS in
court.

The coliseum suit is similar to one the Raiders lost two years ago in Los
Angeles. Davis claimed the NFL owed him $1.2 billion for spiking the deal to
build a new stadium at the Hollywood Park race track. A judge ordered a new
trial because of juror misconduct, but the NFL is appealing.

Davis said he never would have ended up in Oakland if the NFL hadn't blocked
that deal.