Various Oakland Raiders fan clubs as well as community officials have teamed up in hopes of keeping the team in Oakland.
Community officials as well as a coalition of Oakland Raiders fan groups recently showed up to Oakland City Hall to conduct a press conference in regards to keeping the Raiders in Oakland.
Following the approval for the Raiders to move to Las Vegas, it was seemed to be a pen-to-paper done deal. Although it looks like it is all but certain the move will indeed happen, it has been shown that Oakland citizens are not going to go down without a fight.
Through apparent private donations as well as a Go Fund Me account, organizers have gathered the necessary funds to hire experienced litigator James Quinn.
Quinn has had a track record with taking on big corporations, and has dealt with NFL more than once. Quinn has also filed suit against other companies such as CBS as well as ESPN.
Quinn spoke to fans as well as media, and was quoted as saying:
"“It seems that it really could be a tragedy if NFL football, particularly NFL Raider football were no longer to be here.” Quinn also added “You have a strange situation where a team and particularly now, has been enormously successful, been here on and off half a century or more, in one of the largest markets in the United States, moving to one of the smallest markets in the United States, to a city to say the least is not exactly robust.”"
It has been said by Quinn as well as other Oakland officials that they are currently in an “exploratory phase”. As of right now, we can assume that Quinn is building some sort of case against the Raiders, as well as the NFL.
This is an admirable effort by the community of Oakland, but it will be a clear-cut uphill battle from here. If you would like to watch the entirety of the press conference, the periscope video is posted below.
— Dr.Death|Ray (@26DrDeath) June 12, 2017
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More realistically, the lawsuit would be aiming to keep the Raiders brand — name, team logo and colors — in Oakland. Which, if successful, would force Mark Davis to re-brand the team upon relocating to Las Vegas.
"“We are breaking out silence today and exploring options to keep football in Oakland,” says Ray Bobbitt of the Legal Action Committee.”"
There is precedent for this situation. In 1995, Cleveland Browns season ticket holders helped organize a battle with the NFL that resulted in Art Modell having to change the team name to the Ravens upon moving to Baltimore. So while it seems like this will be an uphill battle, it’s not an impossible one.