The Oakland Football Marketing Association (OFMA) on Monday
began Raiders fans to buy season tickets for the rest of the year
without purchasing PSLs, the fee that "public agencies need to
help pay" for the team's $200M relocation deal, according to
Renee Koury of the SAN JOSE MERCURY NEWS. The OFMA "wants to
fill the stands" for the next home game November 4 as all home
games this season have been blacked out. This decision by the
OFMA is drawing "howls of protest" from fans who paid PSL fees
for the rights to buy their season tickets and "angered" public
officials. Councilperson Ignacio de la Fuente called for an OFMA
"overhaul" to give "more control to public agencies," adding,
"It's obvious that the OFMA is making decisions that are totally
opposed to the interests of the city and county." Some officials
believe the Raiders, with four reps on the seven-member OFMA
board, "steer marketing decisions to serve their own interests,"
as public agencies receive PSL money and the Raiders get ticket
revenue. The team has sold around 35,000 season ticket packages,
with over 20,000 seats unsold at the Coliseum. This summer, the
OFMA offered "bonus tickets" to ticket holders without a PSL fee,
a "controversial move that split the marketing board." Only
about 2,000 bonus seats sold. The new ticket plan "was approved
by a united marketing board," according to the OFMA's Gail
Steele. Steele: "Some people think the Raiders are out to screw
us, but I don't believe that. The idea is to fill the stands."
But de la Fuente adds, "Who in their right mind would buy a PSL
when you can get in without one? It's just absolutely stupid"
(SAN JOSE MERCURY NEWS, 10/15).
