Raiders Get Final Approval for Coliseum Luxury Suites

The Raiders’ plan to build luxury suites around the top of the Coliseum, delayed for more than three years primarily because of legal problems, was finally approved Wednesday by a unanimous vote of the Coliseum Commission.

Construction of the 112 suites and a new, bigger press box will begin as soon as the National Football League season ends for the Raiders. The suites, under terms of the agreement, must be built and ready to use by the start of the 1987 NFL season.

The Raiders’ initial proposal to build the suites was delayed in 1982 because of the City of Oakland’s lawsuit against the team. Subsequent plans in the fall of 1983 were delayed and eventually abandoned because of conflicts with the 1984 Olympic Games.

The Raiders, who will assume the building costs, are offering individual suites on a five-year lease at an annual cost of $50,000. There is a $25,000 licensing and security payment the first year, which is then applied to the final year’s annual fee.

Renters will have access to the suites for all Coliseum events, including USC football games, motocross races, concerts and track meets.

The suites will be built at three levels on both the north and south sides of the Coliseum. They will not extend past either goal line. The press box will occupy most of the second and third levels on the south side. The Coliseum will lose approximately 1,500 seats, reducing capacity to 91,016.

Irv Kaze, a Raider spokesman, said that approximately 40% of the suites have been sold. Kaze also said that once most of the suites have been rented, a drawing will be held to determine the location of each renter’s suite.

The Raiders have given use of four suites to the Coliseum Commission, and will lease seven suites to USC for its use only during Trojan football games.

Beginning in 1989, the Raiders will pay the Coliseum Commission 12% of the yearly gross income from the suites.

“It’s very profitable for the Commission,” said William R. Robertson, president of the commission. “If the Raiders sell 100 suites (grossing $5 million a year), we will receive ($600,000). I feel this agreement also brings us up to the state of the art in terms of boxes in other NFL stadiums.”

Robertson said the suites marked just the first step in the Coliseum Commission’s plans to refurbish the Coliseum, the Sports Arena and the Exposition Park area.