Noting the Raiders, the City of Oakland and Alameda County
have "lost the momentum of the [team's] move [in '95], have no
new marketing plan in place and are already running out of time,"
T.J. Simers of the L.A. TIMES examines the "unhappy returns" of
the Raiders to Oakland. Simers documents the club's struggle to
both sell PSLs and establish marketing programs through the
Oakland Football Marketing Association (OFMA). He notes that
despite a multi-million dollar renovation of Oakland Coliseum,
about 20,000 seats remain for Sunday's home opener against the
Jaguars. He also points out that more than 4,500 fans chose to
take a loss on the $250-4,000 PSL investment they made a year ago
by not renewing their season tickets for this season, only 2,000
out of 9,000 club seats have been sold, and only 60 of 140 luxury
boxes are currently under consignment. Simers adds that 10,000
more PSLs must be sold to keep the city and county from dipping
into public funds to repay renovation debt. OFMA COO Ray Krise:
"Right now things are flat. Twenty thousand available tickets
are a big disincentive to buying PSLs." However, both Raiders
attorney Amy Trask and PSL/marketing exec Max Muhleman remain
optimistic about the Raiders situation. Trask tells Simers that
the club's situation is a "16-year proposition" and should not be
judged "prematurely," while Muhleman notes, "With all the
[marketing] problems there, I'm personally astounded that they
still have 35,000 PSLs. ... It's a situation that's salvageable,
but they need modifications and may have to take less money than
they planned on taking." PSL holder William Stone: "I was
suckered in like a lot of people who thought it was going to be
like the old days when they were here. Now there isn't anyone in
the world buying a PSL. Everyone's heard what a bad deal it is"
(L.A. TIMES, 9/13).
MORE BAD PRESS: Scott Ostler of the S.F. CHRONICLE also
reports on the Raiders return to Oakland, "Seemed like a good
idea at the time, but so did King George's tea tax, smoking to
impress chicks, and hunch-betting the rent money on that horse
named Bettherentmoney" (S.F. CHRONICLE, 9/13). Raiders DT
Chester McGlockton blames the cost of the tickets for the poor
attendance: "The prices are ridiculous" (SACRAMENTO BEE, 9/13).
