The Raiders and NFL are asking a judge to toss out a lawsuit filed by Oakland, arguing the city’s claims “turn antitrust on its head” and are a “striking perversion of antitrust law.”
Attorneys for the team, league and its 31 other franchises laid out their legal argument for the first time in court papers filed March 1. Both sides are scheduled to appear in San Francisco court before U.S. District Judge Joseph C. Spero on Friday afternoon.
Spero is expected to rule whether to dismiss the lawsuit at a June 7 hearing.
Oakland filed suit in December, alleging the NFL and Raiders violated antitrust laws by approving the move to Vegas, and said doing so amounted to a group boycott of Oakland.