PA Season Ticket Holder
04-15-2003, 04:32 PM
SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- The Oakland Raiders claimed in court Monday that they were lured back to Oakland after 13 seasons in Los Angeles on the false promise of a packed stadium and now are in danger of failing.
In opening statements in the lawsuit seeking nearly $1 billion against the Oakland Alameda County Coliseum, its lead negotiator and the defunct Arthur Andersen accounting firm, attorney Roger Dreyer said the team was defrauded eight years ago and its future is now in jeopardy.
The team claims it lost between $500 million and $1 billion because a breach of good faith and fraudulent misrepresentation by the Coliseum and associates who said the stadium would sell out for the Raiders.
City and county officials have called the claims absurd and said the team lost money because of poor performances in the 1990s. Davis only sued in 1997, after the team finished 4-12, the team's worst season since 1962.
Dreyer said the team's return to Oakland after the Northridge earthquake had weakened the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum was said by Oakland officials to be worth $1 billion in ticket sales for the team over 15 years.
http://espn.go.com/nfl/news/2003/0414/1538966.html
In opening statements in the lawsuit seeking nearly $1 billion against the Oakland Alameda County Coliseum, its lead negotiator and the defunct Arthur Andersen accounting firm, attorney Roger Dreyer said the team was defrauded eight years ago and its future is now in jeopardy.
The team claims it lost between $500 million and $1 billion because a breach of good faith and fraudulent misrepresentation by the Coliseum and associates who said the stadium would sell out for the Raiders.
City and county officials have called the claims absurd and said the team lost money because of poor performances in the 1990s. Davis only sued in 1997, after the team finished 4-12, the team's worst season since 1962.
Dreyer said the team's return to Oakland after the Northridge earthquake had weakened the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum was said by Oakland officials to be worth $1 billion in ticket sales for the team over 15 years.
http://espn.go.com/nfl/news/2003/0414/1538966.html