Post by TheShadow on Sept 7, 2006 18:38:27 GMT -5
www.mercurynews.com
By Ann Killion
Mercury News
We're dealing with baby steps on the road to credibility here, so be patient. But the first news from the Raiders' season is good news.
Monday night's opener against San Diego is sold out. It will be televised in the Bay Area.
For a team coming off a 4-12 season that did little more than hire Art Shell, these developments are cause for celebration.
Also good news: We found out about the sellout Wednesday morning, rather than dealing with cloak-and-dagger nonsense -- will the Raiders be on TV, will they be blacked out? -- for days on end.
This is, apparently, the new Raiders era: transparency, customer service, marketing efforts.
What could be next? Winning?
Hold on. Let's not get ahead of ourselves. We're only dealing with ticket sales here, as chief executive Amy Trask said several times Wednesday morning.
Trask held a state-of-the-sales meeting, following up on her we're-cleaning-up-the-mess meeting in February. This is -- to date -- Trask's most public role as a Raiders executive. A Raiders executive who is expected to run the team someday, that is. So she wants to make darn sure it's a success.
Trask had props. She had pink Post-it notes. She had a point-by-point agenda. She had direct answers -- not exactly the Raiders way.
And she had results.
According to Trask, existing Raiders season-ticket holders renewed at a 90 percent rate. In addition, season-ticket sales are up 30 percent from last year. That brings the total to 37,000 season tickets.
That's still 25,000 short of a sellout but not bad considering the pathetic state of both the Raiders' recent performances and the antipathy wrought by 11 years of bungled sales.
``It was chaos,'' Trask said. ``It was abysmal.''
She was talking about ticket sales. Not Norv Turner's tenure as Raiders coach. During that tenure the Raiders were 9-23. Logic would dictate that such a miserable record wouldn't help ticket sales. But Trask doesn't agree that there's a connection between winning and ticket sales.
``I don't see a correlation,'' she said. ``Reasonable minds may have to disagree on this.''
She went on to cite examples such as Arizona, Cincinnati and Houston. The correlation there is obviously a draw besides winning: new stadiums.
But, illogical as it may seem, Trask has a point. It hasn't mattered whether the Raiders have won or lost -- they haven't sold out. Blackouts have been their one constant companion -- lasting through coaches, quarterbacks, AFC West titles and bottom-feeding times.
The Raiders have been blacked out in 59 of the 88 games they've played in Oakland. So when the Raiders took over their ticket sales as part of a legal settlement, it was time for a change.
The Raiders have hired a staff of 25 that is doing such innovative things as answering the phone when customers call.
Among their hires is Senior Director Rob Sullivan, who worked for the Sacramento Kings and the San Francisco Giants and couldn't believe the mess he inherited.
``The good thing is we have a blank canvas,'' Sullivan said.
That's the new Raiders: the glass-half-full Raiders!
The Raiders have lowered prices on 65 percent of their tickets -- while 21 teams in the league have raised prices. Their average ticket price is $64.60. That's higher than the Super Bowl champions (the Pittsburgh Steelers' average is $59.19) and 60 cents higher than the average across the bay, but significantly less than the $90.89 charged by the New England Patriots.
Raiders patrons should be getting more for their money, from better concessions to family-friendly areas to improved parking.
``The emphasis is on customer service and greater hospitality for our fans,'' Trask said.
Trask, who once went out into the stands to break up a fight, conceded that there's a perception out there about Raiders games.
``I don't think it's a fair perception,'' she said. ``It's not the reality. It's a misperception.''
Still misperceptions can impact ticket sales. And create a marketing obstacle. And the Raiders have also gone to lengths to beef up security.
Trask wouldn't say what other games will be sellouts, because, hey what would the Raiders be without some mystery? But as my blog-eague John Ryan speculated in the Morning Buzz, you can make some educated guesses: Oct. 29 against Pittsburgh and Nov. 12 against Denver. The Dec. 23 game against Kansas City will depend on how the season is going. And St. Louis, Cleveland, Houston and Arizona are all going to be tough sells.
But the Raiders are taking baby steps out of chaos. And Monday is a start.