$32 Million in Bait for Raiders Is Reportedly Rejected by Oakland

The City Council has informally rejected a proposal to pay a $32-million “franchise fee” to lure the Los Angeles Raiders back to town, according to a published report today.

In a copyrighted story, the Oakland Tribune said the proposal was rejected behind closed doors Tuesday after terms were outlined by City Manager Henry Gardner.

Alameda County Supervisor Don Perata, who helped develop the proposal, said the council was given “inaccurate numbers,” and he predicted that an acceptable proposal can be worked out.

The Raiders left Oakland after the 1981 season, despite intense fan support, for a new home in the Los Angeles Coliseum. But they have not developed the following in Southern California that they had in Oakland, where every game was sold out.

Perata said he expects another proposal to be sent to the Raiders within a week.

George Vukasin, head of the Oakland Coliseum, where the team played its home games, told the newspaper that a “rather creative” deal had been sent to the City Council. He declined to discuss details.

The newspaper said unidentified sources familiar with the deal said it involved payment of $32 million to the Raiders in three installments, with the final one due by next June.

“You get no team without a franchise fee,” Perata said.

Vukasin has estimated that, in addition to the franchise fee, it would cost $30 million to $40 million to add 10,000 seats to the 52,000-seat stadium.

The newspaper’s source said the franchise fee proposal was greeted by laughter and disbelief. Council members objected to the proposal on several grounds, including the amount and possible legal problems they might face for negotiating with the team.

Key to the rejection, the source said, was a $3-million annual shortfall between payments on the bonds to finance the franchise fee and the amount received in revenue. That would have meant that the city would have had to make up the difference from its general fund.

But Perata said the shortfall would have come under an old proposal.

“The proposal we’re now homing in on doesn’t anticipate a shortfall,” he said.

The Raiders have a contract with the Los Angeles Coliseum through 1991. Raiders owner Al Davis has been negotiating with Irwindale to construct a new ballpark, although problems have arisen with that plan too.

The Raiders will return to the Coliseum at least once. They are scheduled to meet the Houston Oilers in a preseason game Aug. 26.

The tickets sold out in 2 1/2 hours.