Oakland and Alameda County, CA, officials gave "only
half the money" requested by the Oakland Football Marketing
Association (OFMA) for the next six months, according to
Bonita Brewer of the SAN JOSE MERCURY NEWS. The joint city-
county authority that oversees the Coliseum said "unless it
can prove spending more money would do any good," funding
for the OFMA will be limited to $500,000 between January and
June. OFMA Marketing Dir Richard Rogers said that "cutting
the marketing budget too deeply may backfire on the public
agencies" and that "under-funded customer service operations
could cause dissatisfied fans to forfeit their PSLs or file
a class-action lawsuit" (SAN JOSE MERCURY NEWS, 12/12). In
San Jose, Mark Purdy wrote that Rogers "may have a near
impossible task" in selling PSLs. Since Rogers' hiring in
March, the OFMA has spent $1.5M marketing PSLs and has sold
"about" 700, which means OFMA has spent "about" $2,100 to
sell each PSL, "some of which cost only $500" (SAN JOSE
MERCURY NEWS, 12/14). In S.F., Tim Keown wrote his list of
"good news" in the holiday spirit: "Good news for Raiders
PSL holders: Only seven more years" (S.F. EXAMINER, 12/14).
COMMITMENT TO...WHATEVER: The "crumbling" of the
Raiders' dynasty was examined by Mike Freeman of the N.Y.
TIMES. These days, Freeman wrote, the Raiders "always seem
distracted, as if they were trying to live up to a tough
image that is now decades old." Owner Al Davis, who seems
"especially distracted," has sued the NFL over "who owns the
rights" to the L.A. market and, in another lawsuit against
the league, he issued a "litany of allegations," including a
belief that "certain owners are puppets" for NFL
Commissioner Paul Tagliabue and that expansion teams should
not be allowed to use the color black because it is a
"Raiders color" (Mike Freeman, N.Y. TIMES, 12/14).
