Raiders Threaten To Leave Oakland Early After City Council Announces Lawsuit

The soon-to-be Las Vegas Raiders are once again battling the Oakland City Council. The council, which is still stinging from its frugal failure to keep the team in Oakland, announced plans to sue the Raiders and the NFL for leaving the city. The Raiders responded in kind, threatening to withdraw from lease negotiations with Oakland Alameda County Coliseum to stay the team's home until the Vegas move. A multimillion-dollar, antitrust lawsuit, Oakland Councilman Noel Gallo said Tuesday that the lawsuit will be filed soon. Once it is filed, he expected an announced within days of the filing. Sources told the San Francisco Chronicle the city's attorney was finishing the preparations before it is signed off from multiple law firms handling the litigation process. In response, Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum Authority Executive Director Scott McKibben said he was told by team executives that there wouldn't be any agreement if the lawsuit were to proceed. It is reportedly asking for up to $500 million in damages.

Not all members of the council are in agreement with the vindictive move, especially after it was the city council itself that failed to work out a stadium deal in the Bay Area. The fallout from the failure from constituents has been scathing. Former Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum board member Ignacio De La Fuente — a council member in the late 1990s who helped bring the Raiders back to Oakland from Los Angeles — was not in favor of the move. "It makes absolutely no sense,” he told the Chronicle. “I think the mayor (Libby Schaaf) and the City Council really are just looking to justify themselves for not having done anything to retain the Warriors — and the A’s, for that matter." The Raiders have not spoken publicly about the potential lawsuit. The NFL itself is already on the verge of another large lawsuit filed by former San Francisco quarterback Colin Kaepernick. That suit got an extra boost in the public eye this past weekend when Nike announced Kaepernick as its 30th anniversary campaign for the "Just do it" brand.

Alameda County Supervisor Nate Mileytold the Chronicle the county likely doesn’t have any interest in signing on to the suit — or, for that matter, staying in the sports business. The county supervisors won't meet again until Sept. 17 and it's still hoping to unload its half-interest in the Coliseum back to to Oakland.

It's already been a wild Labor Day Weekend for the Raiders, who orchestrated a blockbuster trade of All-Pro defensive lineman Khalil Mack to Chicago. Seems like this is one last political move from desperate council members to beef up perceived popularity before the November elections. A win is highly unlikely and a taxpayer-paid saber rattle as the Raiders kick the dust off their heels on the way out.

If the lawsuit does proceed, the Raiders will be looking for a new host stadium. Sam Boyd Stadium Could be an option, if renovations are made to make it an NFL-worthy location. That would cost a great deal of money and a quick turnaround after UNLV's football team finishes its second-to-last season out off Boulder Highway.

This could mean the Raiders could come to Vegas in 2019, instead of the anticipated 2020 arrival. San Diego has also been mentioned as a temporary home for 2019. The stadium construction itself is well underway and the nearly $2 billion stadium is already taking shape.