One of my favorite Supreme Court cases is theblandmark eminent domain case Davis v City of Oakland back in 1986, one that rendered Irsay v Maryland moot in the process and stopped Art Modell in his tracks. In a 7-2 decision, the Supreme Court ruled that government could seize private property for “public purpose” such as creating or preserving jobs, and that Oakland’s seizure of the Raiders was constitutional, paving the way for Maryland to seize the Colts and Cleveland to threaten to seize the Browns.
What if things had gone differently? It could be the Court going the other way, as four justices were on the fence about it. It could be Oakland declining to use eminent domain to prevent the Raiders from moving to LA. It could be any step in between as well. How would sports - and society - look without this ruling?
OOC: For you law buffs, the fictional SCOTUS case above actually happened in 2005 as Kelo vs City of New London and made the same ruling regarding eminent domain when New London, CT tried to seize public land to sell to Pfizer to bring manufacturing jobs to the city.