Raiders and the Coliseum Commission in a New Dispute Over Luxury Suites

The Raiders have halted construction of 60 luxury boxes at the Coliseum because of a dispute over other improvements at the stadium.

Alexander Haagen, the Coliseum Commission’s new president, has scheduled a special meeting today in an attempt to resolve the stalemate so that the suites can be ready for the 1987 football season.

Irv Kaze, senior administrator for the Raiders, said the team wants assurances that the Coliseum will commit all net proceeds from the $21-million judgment it won in its successful antitrust lawsuit against the National Football League.

City Councilman Gilbert W. Lindsay, a Coliseum Commission member, said the commissioners did not promise to use all winnings from the lawsuit for the Coliseum only.

“Al Davis (managing general partner of the Raiders) is a hard driver,” Lindsay said. “He wants everything. He expects us to bow and scrape, and some of those commissioners are going to stand up to him. It’s going to be a pretty big fight. They are not going to give all the money we won in the courts. We’re not going to do it.”

Earlier this month, the Raiders began construction of the long-planned luxury suites that will rent for $50,000 a year under a five-year contract.

At the same time, the Raiders began pressing for the Coliseum to go ahead with the other improvements, including replacement seating for the 1,700 fans who would be uprooted by construction of the luxury boxes.

The issue came to a head when Glenn Mon, acting general manager of the Coliseum, sent a letter to Davis on Feb. 16 complaining that the Raiders had failed to post a performance bond and the material and labor bonds required by state law. Mon demanded that the Raiders “cease and desist” construction until the bonds were posted.