The "indisputable fact" lying behind the legal battle
between the Raiders and the city of Oakland and Alameda
County is that "the two parties are bound together for at
least the next 11 years, so they need to stop fighting and
start cooperating," according to Glenn Dickey of the S.F.
CHRONICLE, who wrote that the Raiders have been "sabotaged"
by their own marketing campaign, which "could not have been
worse if it had been designed that way." The team's
campaign from last year "featured billboards in which fans
said their friends thought they were going to church ... but
they were actually going to a Raiders game. In other words,
they were ashamed to admit they were Raiders fans. Wow,
that's really a great way to sell your product." Now, the
"great minds" on the Joint Powers Authority have cut the
club's marketing budget. Dickey added that when the legal
"skirmishes" are finished, the city and county "need to work
closely" with the Raiders to "get the best marketing
possible" and to sell both regular tickets and luxury
suites. The Raiders "have already been doing more than is
generally realized" to market the team including holding
game-day barbecues for luxury-suite holders and giving them
season-ending gifts. Dickey concludes that the team is a
"considerable asset" to the city and the entire East Bay
community so it's "time to maximize that asset, and that
means working together" (S.F. CHRONICLE, 2/24).
