City of Berkeley v. Oakland Raiders

This appeal presents the second half of the City of Berkeley versus the Oakland Raiders, wherein the Raiders continue to contest the city’s professional sports events license tax. In Oakland Raiders v. City of Berkeley (1976) 65 Cal.App.3d 623 [ 137 Cal.Rptr. 648 ] (Raiders I), this court reversed a summary judgment in favor of the Raiders and upheld the ordinance in question as (1) a valid revenue measure within the police power of the city rather than a regulatory scheme, and (2) a tax on the privilege of performing a business, rather than a tax upon the property of the University of California where the Raiders’ professional football games were played. The case was then tried, resulting in a judgment for the city. In this appeal the Raiders contend that: (1) The trial court erred in rejecting their timely request for findings; (2) the tax cannot be applied to concession income paid to the Raiders by their licensed vendors at the games; (3) the tax cannot be applied to receipts from advance ticket sales prior to the enactment of the ordinance, although the games occurred thereafter; and (4) the tax violates the equal protection clause of the California Constitution,…