Tagliabue Testifies About Payouts to NFL Franchises

The NFL has since agreed to contribute a total of $891 million toward new stadiums in 10 cities but turned down a request from the Raider franchise in 1995 for a $20-million loan toward the team’s proposed stadium at Hollywood Park, Commissioner Paul Tagliabue testified Thursday in Los Angeles Superior Court.

At a May 1995 meeting in Jacksonville, Fla., at which league owners declined the aid to the Raiders, Tagliabue said, in one of the more memorable utterances he has made in his lengthy tenure as commissioner, “The league is a league, not a bank.” The remark was not brought up Thursday before jurors.

However, in testimony intended by the Raiders to underscore a key team theme in the case, that the NFL treats the Raiders differently than other franchises, Tagliabue confirmed that the league is contributing $150 million apiece to the New England Patriots and Philadelphia Eagles, $137 million to the San Francisco 49ers, $121 million to the Chicago Bears and $102 million to the Detroit Lions.

The Seattle Seahawks, owned by Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen, is in line for $63 million in league assistance, Tagliabue said. The Denver Broncos are due to get $48 million, the Green Bay Packers and Minnesota Vikings $43 million apiece and the Arizona Cardinals $34 million, Tagliabue said.

“The $20 million sought by the Raiders was less than all these numbers?” Raider attorney Joseph Alioto asked Tagliabue.

Yes, the commissioner said.

The testimony came on Day 3 of the Raiders’ case against the NFL. The team claims the league interfered with its 1995 deal at Hollywood Park, leaving owner Al Davis no choice but to return to Oakland. The Raiders also claim they still own the L.A. market for NFL football. The Raiders, who played in Los Angeles from 1982 through 1994, are seeking more than $1 billion in damages. The league denies wrongdoing.

Under questioning by Alioto, Tagliabue also testified about a 1999 interview with Business Week magazine in which the commissioner was asked, “Would the Raiders’ owner, Al Davis, be welcomed back in Los Angeles?”

“Most of the public says, ‘Hell, no,’ ” Tagliabue told the magazine. “I guess there are some people who feel that Al Davis is now at the end of his life, and it seems like the Raiders are going to be the Raiders without Al Davis. That’s more palatable to some people.”

Asked about those remarks in court, particularly the word “palatable,” Tagliabue said that was not his opinion but that of “people who had spoken to me about that subject.” Hearing that, Davis laughed.

Late in the day, after three days of questioning by Alioto, NFL attorney Allen Ruby got his first chance to question Tagliabue, commissioner since 1989. Ruby quickly sought to establish a theme key to the league in the case--that Davis has a history of seeking financially attractive opportunities for the Raider franchise, wherever they may be.

Ruby noted, for instance, the Raiders’ aborted efforts in 1990 to move from Los Angeles to Oakland. Asked about the effect of that, with the team still in L.A., Tagliabue said it was “disruptive” to “fan interest and fan support.”