RICHARDSON TESTIFIES IN RAIDERS TRIAL 

(March 19, 2001) - Carolina Panthers owner Jerry Richardson testified Monday that he and other NFL owners worked hard to help the Raiders stay in Los Angeles at a new Hollywood Park stadium.

Richardson again will be on the witness stand Tuesday in the Raiders vs. NFL trial in State Superior Court in Los Angeles. He was a member of the four-person committee appointed by Commissioner Paul Tagliabue to assist Hollywood Park and the Raiders in developing the terms of a second-team option at the proposed stadium.

One of the Raiders key assertions in the case is that the league interfered with their contract dealings with Hollywood Park. Richardson testified that it would be "bizarre" to suggest that he had been part of a scheme to drive the Raiders back to Oakland. When questioned by a Raiders attorney whether he had discouraged the Hollywood Park officials from completing the stadium project, Richardson said it was "absolutely untrue. I’ve never given the impression that I was anything but in favor of the Raiders staying in Los Angeles." Asked whether he had told Hollywood Park officials that it might be best if the team returned to Oakland, Richardson said that statement "could not be further from the truth."

Richardson said that in 1995 he was very enthusiastic about trying to do anything he could to resolve the stadium situation in Los Angeles for the Raiders. He recalled how Al Davis had called him to learn how to secure banking for the new stadium. Richardson testified that he suggested that the Raiders owner call the new stadium "Al Davis Stadium" since he had spent his entire career with the Raiders and the NFL.

Richardson also confirmed that the Raiders could have elected in 1995 to be the only home team at Hollywood Park by deciding to take one Super Bowl and 10,000 extra tickets rather than an option for a second possible team and a minimum two Super Bowls and additional tickets.

Commissioner Tagliabue, who testified for four days last week, will return to the stand following Richardson on Tuesday. Browns president Carmen Policy and former NFL president Neil Austrian are also scheduled to testify as "hostile witnesses" as the Raiders continue to present their case.

The Raiders claim that the NFL in 1995 interfered with the team's opportunity to build a stadium at Hollywood Park, right outside Los Angeles. The Raiders also assert that they own the Los Angeles market and the NFL may not place a team there without paying the Raiders for doing so.

The NFL, however, says that the other NFL clubs worked hard to help - not hinder - the Raiders with their stadium proposal at Hollywood Park. The NFL also says that under NFL rules the right to place a team in Los Angeles, or any other city, is a collective right of all member clubs, not just the Raiders.

Under California law, a verdict requires a minimum three-quarters vote of the jury, which is comprised of eight men and four women. The trial is expected to last 4-6 weeks.