NFL in OKC

[BoulderSooner]

Not in the legal sense, but as Al Davis learned, owners that try to move without the league's blessing don't get very far. He could move in name, but the league gave him the cold shoulder. He was forced to move back and tried to sue them again, losing pretty significantly. That's why the league can put restrictions and conditions on a team moving to LA now, because moving without the league is a poor prospect.

And while it's true that, before taxes and other obligations, most franchises do earn money (there's usually at least one exception every year), they don't typically earn money for the city/state, just the people who run the franchises. That's why there was a backlash in Seattle against building a new arena for the Sonics that wasn't at least half-funded by the owners, cities usually lose money on sports franchises. City's agree to bear some of the costs of building stadiums because they view it as valuable amenities, not because it benefits the bottom line for anyone other than the owners (and even then, it may not be enough to recoup the investment costs). If the state at large had to put up 600 million to build an NFL stadium, it'd be a pretty bad investment even if we could make a team of billionaires materialize out of thin air to buy a franchise.

al davis won the law suit ... the NFL did not want him to move back to oakland ...

[Hawk405359]

al davis won the law suit ... the NFL did not want him to move back to oakland ...

You've got it backwards. They were in Oakland until 81. Davis tried to get a new arena deal, failed, then wanted to move the team to LA. The league voted against it and there was an injunction filed. Davis sued the league on anti-trust grounds, won, and got the right to move to LA. The deal never really worked out for him and he tried to move back to Oakland in 89. That fell through, but it wasn't the league that did it, it was other issues. Then a few years later, he moved back and sued the NFL, saying they didn't support him enough in the move, and he lost that lawsuit.

He won the lawsuit that allowed him to move to LA in 82, but lost the one about the lack of support from the league after he was forced to move back.

[jedicurt]

al davis won the law suit ... the NFL did not want him to move back to oakland ...

wrong on so many levels... Al tried to move the team to LA in 1980, and the NFL filed a court injunction to prevent him from doing so. In 1982, he won, and moved the team.

the lawsuit in 1995 when he moved the team back to Oakland had nothing to do with could he move the team, it was that he believed the NFL and the other owners purposely sabotaged his attempt to build a new stadium at Hollywood Park in Inglewood. the NFL won this case, in 2001 if i remember correctly, and about 2 years later it was over turned by the appellate court. This was when there was talk again of Al wanting to move the team back to LA cause the court had ruled in his favor and he thought the NFL would not stand in his way. Then it went to the State supreme court of california and in 2007, they ruled against the Raiders and that was the end of that case.

Al Davis was also the only NFL owner to side with the USFL in their antitrust suit in 1986.

Davis also tried to sue the NFL saying that he had sole authority for an LA team sometime in the mid 1990's but that never really got anywhere.



so here are the facts... yes, an owner can move a team, really anywhere and at any time they want, but the league has it's ways of saying no.... and on the idea of buying a team and moving it here... the NFL votes on all majore ownership purchases... so if a group from OKC wanted to buy an NFL team to bring here, they would have to get approved by the NFL owners before the sale of the team went through. and i already know of 3 owners that would vote against, the cowboys, rams, chiefs.. because it would affect their markets.

[Snowman]

so here are the facts... yes, an owner can move a team, really anywhere and at any time they want, but the league has it's ways of saying no.... and on the idea of buying a team and moving it here... the NFL votes on all majore ownership purchases... so if a group from OKC wanted to buy an NFL team to bring here, they would have to get approved by the NFL owners before the sale of the team went through. and i already know of 3 owners that would vote against, the cowboys, rams, chiefs.. because it would affect their markets.

As long as you are paying enough to make the price of all franchise rise it is usually a rubber stamp to buy a team

[OKCRT]

Jerry Jones would fight it to his death. Jerry not only claims Tx but Ok. and Arky as well. He has enough power/nfl owner buddies to veto Okc. I doubt OKC will ever get an NFL team unless we see a growth spurt akin to Atlanta.Then Jerry would be put out to pasture.

[BoulderSooner]

Jerry Jones would fight it to his death. Jerry not only claims Tx but Ok. and Arky as well. He has enough power/nfl owner buddies to veto Okc. I doubt OKC will ever get an NFL team unless we see a growth spurt akin to Atlanta.Then Jerry would be put out to pasture.

Again if x person is the owner of a team the nfl can't stop a move Al Davis moved his team to a city that already had a team