Hell Hath No Fury Like Cities Scorned: What Happens After Teams Move Away

[1]

Occasionally, owners of professional sports teams request “small” windfalls, often in the form of hundreds of millions to billions of dollars, to fund anything from practice facilities and locker room improvements to entire stadiums from their franchise’s host cities. When these requests are rebuffed and negotiations turn into stalemates, hard choices need to be made and there is sometimes no other option but to uproot the team and move to a place that (pardon the pun) values them more. However, when cities lose their franchises, the heartbreak doesn't necessarily end with the breakup, it sometimes ends in court.

When Teams Leave, Cities Sue

These moves are always devastating to watch from an outsider perspective as fans despair that their franchise and, by extension, cherished memories are leaving to another location and robbing them of future fan interactions. What can those cities who have had their franchises move do? Well, they can sue.

Two recent cases exemplify attempts by individuals and even whole cities at legal redress for franchises being taken away.

The Chargers: A Shocking Betrayal

In 2022, a San Diego Chargers superfan, Ruth Henricks, named the NFL and every owner in a suit for breach of contract, unjust enrichment, and fraudulent misrepresentation after the Chargers moved to LA in 2016.[2] In the case, Henricks, on behalf of the city of San Diego, alleged that Chargers owner Dean Spanos concealed his plan to move the chargers to Los Angeles as early as 2006 despite millions of dollars of funds for stadium renovation and expansion in 1995 among other incentives.[3] Specifically, the complaint states team management “… induced the City of San Diego… to believe that Chargers Football was making good faith diligent efforts to remedy any circumstances that threatened [the]Chargers [remaining in San Diego].”[4] The case, which asked for full recovery of taxpayer funds, was tossed out of court before reaching trial.[5] From a strictly legal perspective, this was the only possible outcome given the number of defendants, the proxy element of the litigation, and the sheer power disparity between the parties.[6] From an equity angle, it emphasizes issues of leverage between franchises and fans through their lack of say in what the city gives up to keep team ownership happy.

The Raiders Make Like Their Namesake

The second case involved the Oakland Raiders moving from Oakland, California to Las Vegas, Nevada in 2020 despite the city of Oakland approving the requested funds for a new stadium.[7] However, Oakland did not sit idle as the franchise fled to Sin City. The City of Oakland sued the Raiders and the NFL.[8] The suit alleged breach of contract and bad faith negotiation.[9] Like San Diego, Oakland alleged “[Owner] Mark Davis asserted that ‘99 percent of [his] interests and energy [were] going towards getting something done [in Oakland]’.”[10] It was also again alleged that there were plans to move as early as 2014.[11] The case made it to trial where the defendants demurred and were granted dismissal on the grounds that Oakland was not a third-party beneficiary of contracts and therefore not entitled to good faith negotiations.[12] This ruling was affirmed on appeal. The Court’s decision here highlights the same issues experienced by Henricks but with a more disturbing implication. Municipalities are scarcely different than individuals in the eyes of the law when it comes to negotiations with these franchises.

Why These Cases Fail

The similarities of alleged behavioral patterns by the defendants, the similarities of the allegations, and the cases’ movement through the legal system, speaks to a long understood imbalance of power between fans and the teams they support. Money talks. Where the largest media markets are, that is where the leagues want teams to go to make the whole brand more valuable. It takes immense success on the part of smaller market teams or extraordinary measures by their host cities to stave off efforts by leagues to get teams and owners to move. The NFL is not the only league mired in this controversy. Oakland had to experience the same pain when the MLB’s Athletics followed the Raiders to Las Vegas in 2024.[13] The NHL saw the Arizona Coyotes move to Utah.[14] There are rumors that the New Orleans Pelicans are gearing up for a move and actively distancing themselves from the city this season.[15] 

The Future is Not Bright

These teams have left and will leave cities and fanbases sad and betrayed by the very organizations meant to bring them joy. From a legal lens, it indicates a dire need for regulations and other guardrails for cities who host franchises. Clearly, owners have become too comfortable asking for the moon and simply threatening to remove a major revenue source unless city leadership effectively harms their constituency in an effort to deliver. Unfortunately, given the lack of meaningful competition, teams hold an effective monopoly on a highly sought after entertainment product. If this continues much longer, the FTC will need to intervene, providing protections for cities, and by extension the fans, perhaps by instituting requirements for team owners to engage in good-faith negotiations with the city barring an inability of the city to continue the necessary maintenance costs.

Adam Kimmel (staff writer) is a 1L who graduated from the University of Pennsylvania in 2021 with major in Communications and a minor in History. He then worked for four years at Vanguard before leaving to pursue a career in law and intramural soccer at Villanova. After graduation he hopes to become a sports agent. 

References:

[1] Matthew Fornier, Unsplash (2017).

[2] Trial Pleading: Complaint to Recover Taxpayer Funds, 2022 WL 225706 (Cal.Super.).

[3] Id. at 12

[4] Id. at 15

[5] Coast News Wire Service Judge dismisses lawsuit against NFL over Chargers’ relocation, (2022)

[6] Trial Pleading, 2022 WL 225706.

[7] City of Oakland v. Oakland Raiders, 83 Cal.App.5th 458 (Cal. App. 2d 2022)

[8] Id. at 458

[9] Id. at 463

[10] Id. at 471

[11] Id. at 469

[12] Id. at 473

[13] Matt Snyder & R.J. Anderson, A's officially leaving Oakland after 2024, will play in Sacramento through 2027 until Vegas stadium is ready, (2024)

[14] Emily Kaplan and Greg Wyshinsky, Inside the Coyotes' stunning move from Arizona to Utah, (2024)

[15] Austin Veazey, NBA Analyst Believes NBA Team Could Be Getting Relocated, (2025)