City of Oakland v. The Oakland Raiders

INTRODUCTION

This appeal arises out of a lawsuit filed by the City of Oakland against the National Football League (the League or the NFL) and its 32 member clubs (collectively, the defendants) after one member club, the Raiders, relocated from Oakland to Las Vegas. The City alleged the defendants did not comply with the process for approving club relocations set forth in the NFL Constitution and related documents. The City asserted causes of action for breach of contract as a third party beneficiary, breach of the implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing, and unjust enrichment. The trial court sustained the defendants’ demurrer to all three causes of action without leave to amend and entered judgment for the defendants.

2 The City argues the trial court erred in ruling it was not a third party beneficiary of the NFL Constitution and related documents and therefore did not have standing to enforce those documents. The City also argues the court applied an incorrect legal standard in ruling on the demurrer to its cause of action for unjust enrichment. We conclude that, because the City did not and cannot allege it is a third party beneficiary of the alleged contracts, its…