Post by TheShadow on Nov 2, 2005 19:03:28 GMT -5
www.cbs5.com
11/02/05 1:45 PST
OAKLAND (BCN)
Officials from the city of Oakland, Alameda County and the Oakland Raiders
announced an agreement today that resolves a number of legal issues and
other matters that the parties have fought over for many years.
The pact, announced following a meeting of the board that runs the Oakland
Coliseum, where the Raiders play, calls for the elimination of personal seat
licenses, which are fees fans must pay to have the right to buy season
tickets.
It also calls for the Raiders to assume responsibility for selling tickets
to their games. Currently tickets are sold by an outside group called the
Oakland Football Marketing Association.
The agreement also resolves 17 legal issues lingering from a 2003 trial in
which a Sacramento County Superior Court jury awarded the Raiders $34.2
million in damages, ruling that the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum
Authority acted negligently when it negotiated to bring the football team
back to Oakland from Los Angeles in 1995 by allegedly promising that Raiders
games would be sold out.
No clear winners emerged from the lengthy legal saga because the Raiders and
local officials because the $34.2 million jury award was only a small
fraction of the $570 million to $833 million the Raiders sought as
compensation for low ticket sales and the declining value of the franchise
by 2010, when the team's lease at the coliseum expires.
However, the agreement doesn't resolve that $34 million jury award and the
issue of whether local taxpayers will have to foot the bill to pay the
verdict.
Raiders Chief Executive Amy Trask said the parties hope to resolve that
issue at a later date.
Oakland City Council President Ignacio De La Fuente said the pact is "an
overall agreement over various disputes, including personal seat licenses."
He said 17 claims the Raiders filed against the city and county have been
settled.
The result is "an improved business relationship" that improves the chances
of keeping the Raiders in Oakland for a long time, he said.
The deal provides more revenue to the city and county and also saves money
by ending litigation, which is expensive and time-consuming, De La Fuente
said.
Personal seat license holders are the biggest beneficiaries, he said.
De La Fuente said the agreement was reached Tuesday night and is expected to
go before the Oakland City Council and the Alameda Board of Supervisors in
December for approval.