After only three months as a consultant for the Raiders'
"troubled" Oakland Football Marketing Association, former Alameda
County Supervisor Don Perata has resigned, according to the SAN
FRANCISCO CHRONICLE. In his August 19 resignation letter, Perata
called the quasi-public association's struggle to sell PSLs and
luxury boxes a "free-falling marketing and public relations
disaster." He criticized the group's lack of a "discernible
organizational structure" and noted that the absence of a
"coherent marketing plan simply made it impossible to perform
effectively." The CHRONICLE's Matier & Ross write Perata's
pullout, which is the "latest in a string of defections or
firings from OFMA," comes amid "increasing anxiety" over the
organization's failure to reach projected sales targets needed to
help pay off $200M in publicly backed bonds used to rebuild
Oakland Alameda Coliseum. Currently, PSL sales are about 10,000
shy of the 45,000 needed to break even, and only about 3,000 of
9,000 higher-ticket club seats have been sold. Matier & Ross add
that the "morass" has led to "increased speculation" that paying
off the Raiders' deal could mean a restructuring of the debt;
putting together a sale-leaseback deal; or taking millions of
dollars out of the Oakland and Alameda County general funds next
year to cover the debt (SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE, 8/26).
