The Oakland Football Marketing Association said yesterday
that it has sold 10,000 single-game tickets for Sunday's Raiders
opener against the Chargers, with only 4,000 still available.
Max Muhleman, President of Muhleman Sports Marketing which is
handling marketing for the OFMA, added that 2,000 more seat
licenses have been sold, bringing the total to 33,000 (OFMA).
The remaining 4,000 seats must be sold by Thursday to avoid a TV
blackout in the Bay Area (S.F. CHRONICLE, 8/29). Of those seats
left in the 45,000-seat Coliseum, about half are being reserved
for those delinquent on PSL payments. They will be released
today if accounts remain unsettled (OAKLAND TRIBUNE, 8/29).
INSIDE THE JOURNEY: In the current INSIDE SPORTS, Glenn
Dickey examines the prodigal team's return to Oakland. Dickey
reports that Owner Al Davis, who grew up in Brooklyn, used Walter
O'Malley's move to L.A. as a blueprint. Dickey adds that even in
the late '60s "Davis talked about New York and Los Angeles being
the only two cities in the country that were really important.
As soon as he got the chance, he jumped to Los Angeles." As far
as Davis' refusal of a deal at Hollywood Park, Oakland negotiator
Ed De Silva notes that Davis' age was a factor. De Silva: "He
had said he wouldn't play in the L.A. Coliseum, so that left
Dodger Stadium or Anaheim. I can tell you when you get to your
60s you don't think in terms of long term projects, and Davis was
looking at the possibility of being 70 by the time he got into a
new stadium" (INSIDE SPORTS, 10/95 issue).
