To anyone whoever said something along the lines of “you couldn’t pay me to go to a Raiders game,” the East Bay’s NFL franchise is getting close to calling your bluff.
The team announced this week that starting now, season tickets in the cheap seats will go for $250, or $25 a game. That’s astoundingly inexpensive. As KCBS blogger Stan Bunger points out, the league average is three times that sum. Meanwhile, at the other end of the spectrum and on the other side of the bay, club seats in the 49ers new Santa Clara stadium cost $3,250.
The Oakland Raiders want to sell out more games and avoid the local television blackouts that contribute to a pernicious cycle of apathy toward the team. In addition to hawking the cheapest seats in the league, the team is blocking off sections of the coliseum to create the stadium with the fewest seats in the NFL.
"Our hope, our desire, is a new stadium at that site. This is the tool we're using this year to create that vibrant community of season-ticket holders," Amy Trask, the Raiders COO, told NFL.com.
NFL.com couldn’t help but conclude with the obvious: “Of course, the Raiders' best solution for pumping life back into their stadium and fan base is to put a decent product on the field. Oakland hasn't qualified for the playoffs since the 2002 season. If you build a team, they will come.”
No thanks.