Raiders Increase Ticket Prices Again

The cost of supporting the Raiders is going up again.

For the second time in two years, and the third time since they moved to Los Angeles from Oakland in 1982, the Raiders have increased their ticket prices.

Next fall, Raider tickets will cost $28, $20 and $13, making the average price of a ticket about $22.40, an increase of more than 13% over last season, when tickets cost $25, $18 and $10.

Season-ticket renewals were mailed out by the team this week.

Of the Coliseum’s 92,516 seats, 46,872 go for the top price, 24,071 for the middle price and 21,573 for the lowest price, according to the Raider ticket office.

The average price for a Raider ticket ranks third in the National Football League behind the Miami Dolphins and the Dallas Cowboys, according to figures compiled in January by the Miami Herald.

All but the VIP seats at Miami’s new Dolphin Stadium will cost $26 next season, and Cowboy tickets, not counting the luxury boxes, will go for $24.67, including $1.67 in local taxes. The average price for Ram tickets in 1987 will be $19.70 for the third straight season, with about 80% of Anaheim Stadium’s 69,007 seats going for $21.

“When you are willing to spend what it takes to be a consistent winner, as we have been, it costs a little more,” said Al LoCasale, Raider executive assistant.

“We slipped a little on the field in ‘86, but we’re committed to doing everything we can to be No. 1, and the price of doing that just keeps going up.”

The Raiders, who have one of the highest payrolls in the NFL, were 8-8 last season and missed the playoffs for the first time since 1981. They were thought to be one of only six NFL teams that lost money in 1986, despite an increase of about 45% in ticket prices in the last five years.

In the Raiders’ first two seasons in Los Angeles, tickets cost $18, $15 and $10. The prices were increased to $22, $16 and $10 after the Raiders won the Super Bowl in 1984 and stayed there until last season.