Post by TheShadow on Nov 4, 2005 18:18:23 GMT -5
www.insidebayarea.com
THE Oakland Raiders and Oakland city and Alameda County officials made the big announcement that the PSLs will not be renewed at a joint news conference Wednesday.
After 10 miserable years ... of the 84 home games played since the Raiders returned to Oakland in 1995, 56 of the games had been blacked out on local television.
The PSLs have been miserable for fans, the Raiders and the local governments that had counted on the money to pay off the $200 million bond for improvements to the Oakland Coliseum.
This is not the way it was supposed to be. The Raiders were supposed to be welcomed back to Oakland. Super Bowls would come. Every game a sellout. Thats not what happened.
Instead, it has been one lawsuit after another.
A Sacramento jury had ordered the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum Authority board to pay the Raiders $34.2 million because they had returned to Oakland, victims of misrepresentations by local officials in 1995. That verdict is being appealed.
In fact, some savings will come to the city and county from not having to pay about $3 million a year in legal fees to fight the Raiders in court.
The legal fees peaked to about $5.9 million in 1999 and $5.3 million in 2002. Since 1999, the Coliseum authority has paid more than $23 million in legal fees.
As part of the deal, the long-despised Oakland Football Marketing Association will disappear, and the Raiders will take full control of selling and marketing tickets. The city of Oakland and Alameda County will get all the parking revenue and an increased share of the hot dogs, peanuts and beer. Also, the Raiders will turn over the keys to their training facility in Alameda in 2011. Today, thats worth an estimated $43 million. The Raiders also will get revenue from coliseum advertising.
But many questions still are unanswered, such as will the team stay in Oakland once its 16-year lease expires in 2011? This agreement also doesnt erase an annual $20 million subsidy by city and county taxpayers on money borrowed in 1995 to renovate the stadium for the teams return.
The loan was to have been completely repaid through PSL sales. But they never came close.
By not renewing the 10-year PSL agreement, stopping the legal drain and generating new revenue streams, Raiders owner Al Davis hopes the team can keep up financially with other teams in the National Football League. AFC West rival Denver Broncos earn at least $70 million more a year because of sellouts, advertising revenue and television deals. Raiders revenues rank 29th or 30th out of the 32 NFL teams.
The word PSL has become a negative in the Bay Area market, Davis said. Back in 1995, it was believed that fans would be excited about spending $250 to $4,000 on the PSLs.
That never happened. Instead, many PSLs went unsold.
What about the Raider fans? What about the taxpayers? The questions remain: Can the $200 million in bonds be paid off without it all falling on the taxpayers? Will the Raiders stay in Oakland? Check back in 2011.