Post by TheShadow on Aug 9, 2005 3:44:55 GMT -5
www.contracostatimes.com
By Guy Ashley
CONTRA COSTA TIMES
Panic is setting in for Andy Miller and other hard-core Oakland Raiders fans -- and it has nothing to do with fears about a third consecutive losing season.
Miller and thousands of other season-ticket holders know the day is fast approaching when they will be asked to show their love by again dipping into their pockets to renew the personal seat licenses they need to keep their tickets.
For fans such as Miller, who mixes drinks from a gas-powered blender at tailgates before each Raiders home game, it should be a no-brainer.
But just when passions should be surging -- the preseason is just a week away -- Miller and some others admit their thoughts flash on once-unthinkable visions of football-free Sundays.
As the Raiders mark the 10th anniversary of their return to Oakland this week, some of their most die-hard fans wonder if they got anything at all from the PSLs that cost $250 to $4,000 a pop each year over the past decade.
"I'll probably re-up, although it's not a slam dunk at this point," said Miller, an attorney who lives in Concord. "There's a trainwreck coming unless somebody comes up with a good idea soon."
The PSL program was created to sell out home games and enable Oakland and Alameda County to pay off $200 million in debts accrued when they lured the team back from Los Angeles in 1995.
Under the program, fans could buy season tickets only if they first paid for a pricey seat license.
Ten summers ago, that offer seemed irresistible to fans who believed Raiders games would sell out for decades to come.
But soon it was clear the program had backfired: Sales never reached much beyond half the 54,000 available licenses. As fan interest sagged over a string of mediocre seasons, PSL owners who stuck it out suffered the indignity of watching the seats around them snatched up at face value -- or less -- to those without seat licenses.
The Raiders and their public sector partners suffered the disaster as well -- Oakland and Alameda County have been forced to spend $150 million to cover the PSL shortfall, while box office struggles have made sellouts rare and earned the Raiders a record unmatched for television blackouts.
The 1995 plan offered 10-year PSLs that expire at end of this coming season. Now, fans want to know what will be asked of them for the 2006 season.
Many of them thought they would know the details of the pending PSL offer by now. But it appears the 2005 Raiders will take the field in the coming weeks with thousands of fans still waiting.
The questions buzzing among booster clubs and on fan Web sites have been met with little information.
"By now, we should have received at least one letter about the new ticket arrangement," said Griz Jones, of Modesto, founder of a Raiders fan club known as the 66th Mob.
The Mob and other organized boosters have lately circulated a petition demanding a voice in secret negotiations involving the Raiders and city and county officials trying to craft a winning program to supplant the PSL disaster of the past decade.
Officials involved in the talks say little -- but ask fans to be patient.
"The process is very slow," said Alameda County Supervisor Gail Steele, who is at the forefront of efforts to craft a ticket program that puts more fans in the seats and helps the city and county pay off their debts.
"We understand the clock is ticking, and we're very nervous about it."
Steele and Oakland City Councilman Ignacio De La Fuente initiated the talks by contacting Raiders officials, including CEO Amy Trask. late last year.
Just sitting down together has been difficult, given that the Raiders and the city and county blame each other for the ticket problems. The dispute spawned a lawsuit and resulted in a $35 million jury award to the Raiders in 2003.
Trask says she's hopeful fans' patience will be rewarded with a program they like.
"I understand that people are anxious for a quick answer, but it's more important that we come up with the right answer," she said.
Both sides agree that whatever ticket program is proposed, it needs to reward current PSL holders for hanging in there over the years.
Among the ideas on the table are seat upgrades, and access to special events with coaches and players, according to officials involved in the talks.
Officials may roll out in the next few weeks an Internet-based survey gauging fan response to various ticket proposals.
That approach seems reasonable, but it better be rolled out fast if the parties want to avert another disaster, said Max Muhleman, a North Carolina-based sports marketing expert who has devised PSL programs for several American pro sports teams.
"Just out of courtesy to the fans, it's time to get with it and let them know what to expect," Muhleman said. "If you wait too long and end up having a disappointing season, you could lose a lot of fan interest, and that would not be good."
BY THE NUMBERS:
Amount of taxpayer money sunk into Raiders deal to date: $152 million.
Taxpayer subsidy in fiscal 2004-05: $16,665,000 (split by Oakland and Alameda County)
Cost of personal seat licenses: $25 to $400 per ticket, per season
Average 2004 home attendance: 50,742, next-to-last among 32 NFL teams
Local television blackouts: 54 of 80 home games since 1995
Regular-season record since 1995: 77-83
