Post by TheShadow on Nov 2, 2005 19:17:45 GMT -5
JUSTIN M. NORTON
Associated Press
OAKLAND, Calif. - The Raiders and the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum Authority announced a plan Wednesday to end nearly a decade of legal acrimony, by dropping existing lawsuits and ending an unsuccessful seat licensing plan.
The so-called personal seat licenses - part of a deal the team and authority worked out 10 years ago to bring the Raiders back home from Los Angeles - became a focal point of the team's fraud lawsuit against the authority that ended in 2003 with a $34.2 million jury award in the team's favor.
The licenses were required to buy season tickets and cost between $250 and $4,000 depending on seat location. They will expire after this season.
Because the games rarely sold out, fans who bought leftover tickets on game day wound up sitting next to disgruntled fans who had paid a premium for a right to sit there.
The license program, set up in 1995, was supposed to cover the $200 million in publicly financed bonds that paid for the expansion of what is now McAfee Coliseum, along with a practice facility and other enticements to lure the Raiders back after 13 years in Los Angeles. The team claimed in its lawsuit that it was misled by the authority with the false promise that the stadium would sell out.
Owner Al Davis testified during the trial two years ago in Sacramento County Superior Court that he was told by stadium officials that loyal fans in the San Francisco Bay area would buy 10-year licenses for season tickets, and luxury boxes would be snapped up by corporations.
"They used words repeatedly like 'slam dunk,' 'we can do it,' 'we'll get it done,'" Davis testified. "If Oakland could do what they said they could do, I was going to give them a chance to do it."
The 2003 jury award for negligent misrepresentation was just a fraction of the $570 million to $833 million the team sought to compensate for lost ticket sales and diminished franchise value.
Under the new agreement outlined at a news conference held by Davis and City Council President Ignacio De La Fuente, the Raiders will be responsible for their own ticketing and marketing operations, which were previously handled by the Oakland Football Marketing Association.
Two weeks after the last game of the 2005 season, the OFMA will be dissolved at the expense of the authority. Raiders fans had long complained about the service they received from the OFMA, while employees complained they were understaffed.
Current license holders will receive first option to buy tickets for next season.
Davis said the Raiders were ranked last in revenue among NFL teams, and he hoped the new agreement would allow the team to earn more money and attract more fans.