Raiders Chief Exec Amy Trask said that the team “moved toward ensuring a full stadium" Sunday when the club plays its first game at O.co Coliseum since the passing of Owner Al Davis "with complimentary tickets given to season-ticket holders,” according to Jerry McDonald of the OAKLAND TRIBUNE. An e-mail to season-ticket holders sent Monday read, "Your guests will be our guests." The e-mail included “instructions on how to get two additional tickets.” The allotment of tickets “was exhausted within 24 hours, and no more complimentary tickets remain.” A follow-up e-mail sent to season-ticket holders read, "While some of you will be disappointed by this, we hope you will agree with us that the most important thing is that the stadium is full and that so very many people will be able to pay tribute to Al Davis." Trask said the Davis tributes will occur throughout the game (OAKLAND TRIBUNE, 10/12).
INHERITANCE TAX LIKELY NOT AN ISSUE: In S.F., Matier & Ross cite legal experts that said the “inheritance tax on the team -- now valued at $761 million -- is not likely to be a problem as long as Davis' wife, 79-year-old Carol Davis, is alive.” But the tax “could be a huge burden down the road for the couple's only child, 56-year-old Mark Davis, because the family isn't known to have other major financial interests to cover a big Internal Revenue Service bill.” Still, a Raiders exec insisted that “it wouldn't be a problem.” The exec said the Davis family had done "intelligent, sophisticated estate planning" (S.F. CHRONICLE, 10/12). In K.C., Randy Covitz notes “only in recent years” has Mark Davis “occasionally represented the Raiders in some matters, generally accompanied by another executive.” Trask and the Davis family “will have to reach out and look for someone to run the football side of the organization, and already there’s been talk of former Raiders coach John Madden or former personnel director Ron Wolf returning to the club.” Mark Davis “has not made himself available for comment, so the face of the Raiders for now” is first year head coach Hue Jackson (K.C. STAR, 10/12).
