Oakland Reportedly Guarantees Raiders 5 Years of Sellout Games

The Raiders football team would be guaranteed at least five years of sold-out games if they agree to leave Los Angeles and return to Oakland, a newspaper reported today.

The promise is included in the offer by the city and Alameda County to Raiders’ owner Al Davis, Oakland City Manager Henry Gardner confirmed to the Oakland Tribune.

Also included in the offer, to be made public later today, is a plan to sell the Oakland Coliseum’s name to a corporate sponsor, the paper said, citing an unnamed source close to the negotiations.

The city and county, which jointly own the 52,000-seat stadium, have been negotiating to assemble a financial package to bring the NFL team back to Oakland, where they still have a large following.

The Raiders moved to Los Angeles after the 1981 season, but the team, whose lease with the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum expires after 1991, is reviewing offers from its current home, Sacramento and the San Gabriel Valley city of Irwindale.

Parts of Oakland’s offer previously revealed by officials include a proposed $54-million franchise fee and $53 million in stadium improvements, including the addition of 10,000 seats.

Most of the franchise fee and improvements would be paid for by the Coliseum’s sale of tax-free revenue bonds.

The city and county’s guarantee of sellout games calls for a $30 charge for all the expanded Coliseum’s 52,000 seats, with an extra charge of $100 to $1,600 a year on the best 33,000 seats.

That would make more than half the Raiders tickets among the highest in the NFL--$40 to $190 a game. The Coliseum would also build more than 100 12-seat luxury boxes with an annual rent of $45,000.

Another part of the offer is a 24-year lease beginning in 1992, according to the unnamed source cited by The Tribune. The lease could be renegotiated after 15 years.

The offer also includes a practice field three football fields wide, a gift of land near the Coliseum to build a Raiders Football Hall of Fame and a pledge to give the team all income from souvenir sales and half the income from parking and food and beverage concessions.

If the Raiders choose Oakland’s bid, the agreement would need public review and the approval of the Oakland City Council, Alameda County supervisors and Oakland Coliseum officials.

City and county officials in Sacramento last week approved a bid to lure the Raiders north. The offer includes $50 million in cash, the promise to build a new stadium near the Arco Arena and guaranteed ticket sales.

Meanwhile, the city of Irwindale already has paid the Raiders a $10-million, non-refundable fee and reportedly will give than an additional $20 million in direct payments in a $195-million package. But the package, which reportedly includes a new stadium, has bogged down in legal and financing problems.