Raiders, NFL Set for Trial
Do the Oakland Raiders own the Los Angeles market for NFL football? Or does the league?
Did the NFL interfere in 1995 with the Raiders’ plans to move into a $250-million privately financed stadium at Hollywood Park? Or did Raider owner Al Davis simply get a deal he liked better to take the Raiders back to their original home in Oakland?
The answers to these questions lie with a Los Angeles Superior Court jury of 12, picked Monday. Six alternates were also selected. Opening statements are scheduled today in a trial that could run into May.
The Raiders moved to Los Angeles in 1982, then back to Oakland before the 1995 season. The team is claiming $1 billion in damages, perhaps more. The NFL denies any wrongdoing.
Commissioner Paul Tagliabue is scheduled to be the first witness in the case and could take the stand as early as this afternoon.
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