Oakland Raiders owner Mark Davis addresses the fans during a NFL meeting at the Paramount Theatre in Oakland, Calif., on Thursday, Oct. 29, 2015. Raiders fans got a chance to express their feelings to the NFL officials about the Oakland Raiders potential move back to Southern California. (RAY CHAVEZ)

OAKLAND -- It's hard to imagine Al Davis being happy that his team's future could rest in the hands of many of the same NFL owners he spent portions of three decades fighting in court.

The Oakland Raiders' patriarch muscled his way to Los Angeles in 1982 over league objections before returning the team to Oakland in 1995.

Now his son is taking a different tack in pursuing a move back south. Instead of slashing, burning and suing, Mark Davis is playing nice -- not that he has much choice.

After a slew of team relocations during the 80s and 90s, today's NFL is in a stronger position to financially punish a team that moves without its permission by denying it stadium funding or the right to host a Super Bowl. And, of the three teams angling for Los Angeles, Davis appears to have the weakest hand, both in terms of personal wealth and relationships with other owners.

Oakland Raiders owner Mark Davis listens to speakers during a NFL meeting with Oakland Raiders fans at the Paramount Theatre in Oakland, Calif., on Thursday, Oct. 29, 2015. Fans expressed their feelings to the NFL officials about their Oakland Raiders potential move back to Los Angles. (RAY CHAVEZ)

Then there is his father's legacy. Residual enmity toward Al Davis could cost his son the support of a few old-line owners, league insiders said.

But the bigger concern, they say, is whether the younger Davis is ready to revamp an organization long seen by some around the league as understaffed, insular and indifferent toward maximizing revenue. It also doesn't help that the team's outlaw image made it popular with gang culture during its last stint in Los Angeles.


"Owners willing to allow a team or teams to relocate here will be focused on stable ownership that will be able to generate long-term revenue because doing so will increase the value of all their teams," David Carter, a sports business consultant and executive director of the USC Marshall Sports Business Institute, said in an email. "Historically, the Raiders have been unable to unlock the corporate market like other franchises have. A large part of this is the team brand itself and the fans that support it that make many potential corporate partners wary."

Reached by phone, Davis said the team has worked hard to attract corporate partnerships and that Raiders fans get a bad rap.

"A lot of the people who are painted up are doctors and lawyers and everything else," he said.

That doesn't mean he isn't sensitive to league concerns.

In a move that would be hard to envision his father making, Davis agreed to work with The Walt Disney Co. CEO Bob Iger on the joint $1.7 billion stadium in the Los Angeles suburb of Carson that he wants to build with the San Diego Chargers.

During a news conference Thursday, Iger, who will have an option to buy a piece of the Raiders if the Carson stadium is built, talked about "repositioning" the team's brand.

"Not every Raiders fan drives a motorcycle and has tattoos," he said. "I think it's incumbent upon us to make sure it doesn't scare people away in how you portray yourself."

Wearing his trademark white track suits or black leather jacket, Al Davis sometimes evoked one of those motorcycle riding Raiders fans.

And the people he scared most on his way to three Super Bowl titles may well have been his fellow owners.

A legendary maverick, Davis not only sued the league to win the right to move to Los Angeles, he appeared as a friendly witness for a rival league that sued the NFL. Later, he unsuccessfully sued the league claiming it had sabotaged his efforts to build a new stadium in Los Angeles.

"Al Davis was something of a libertarian," said Roger Noll, a Stanford sports economist. "He didn't like any rules, no matter what they were."

He also wasn't fond of mixing football and entertainment. Former Oakland Councilman Ignacio De La Fuente recalled Davis responding "very aggressively" to an artist's rendering that showed video games as part of the stadium renovations that returned the Raiders to Oakland 20 years ago.

"He said, 'Are you guys thinking of building a football stadium or an arcade?' " De La Fuente said.

After his father's death in 2011, Mark Davis softened the team's image.

Training camp practices were opened to the public, legendary running back Marcus Allen was welcomed back to the fold after a long feud with Al Davis, and the only major lawsuit to embroil the team was filed by its own cheerleaders demanding more money.

But on the business end, "the culture didn't change all that much," one former Coliseum official said, claiming the team never took full advantage of increased opportunities to sell stadium signage.

"They really believe that everything should be handed to them on a silver platter," said the official who requested anonymity to avoid alienating team or local officials. "And anyone who doesn't want to play ball the way they want to is against them."

When it comes to his fellow owners, Mark Davis hasn't made any concerted attempt to win them over.

"Talk is cheap," Davis said. "I've let them see how I comport myself and how I deal with them. Let them make their own opinions."

As for their opinions of his father: "You'll have to ask them," he said.

The most important ally Davis has won is the Chargers' Dean Spanos, another second-generation owner but one whose father was well liked around the league.

League owners are expected to decide as early as next month whether to approve their Carson stadium plan or a competing Inglewood stadium proposed by St. Louis Rams owner Stan Kroenke.

There are numerous potential outcomes, including a delay or a pairing of the Rams and Chargers, with the Raiders staying put for the time being.

One NFL insider speaking on condition of anonymity said the Raiders' inclusion in the Carson deal has divided several owners.

"Some people see it as making it stronger because you are solving two problems ... but there are owners who don't want Mark Davis in Los Angeles," said the source who was sharing private conversations.

Davis said he still prefers that a stadium deal is worked out in Oakland. He wouldn't comment on talks with the city that took place this week.

As for the team's future, he said it will have the capacity to succeed in Los Angeles and that there is nothing in the club's DNA that would preclude success there.

"My job is to protect our legacy and bring it into the 21st century," he said. "Make sure it fits with today's day and age."

Contact Matthew Artz at 510-208-6435.