ANALYSIS : One Down, Oakland, L.A. to Go in Raider Move Saga

A few months ago, Gregg Lukenbill, chief promoter of the bid to entice the Raiders to Sacramento, was saying that owner Al Davis was not that difficult to deal with, that he was misunderstood by critics.

Lukenbill has joined the critics.

Two days before the Sacramento City Council’s Wednesday midnight deadline for Davis to agree to an offer of municipal payments of $50 million to move to the state capital, Lukenbill told the Sacramento Bee: “I think he’s just basically blowing us off. It’s hard for me to believe that, but that’s what it seems to me.

“God knows, we’ve given it our best shot. If what we’ve got isn’t good enough, there’s no point continuing the dialogue, because this deal isn’t going to be any better two weeks or two years from now.”

Days before, Lukenbill already seemed to recognize that the Sacramento bid was dead.

On Feb. 12, Lukenbill told a Times reporter that Davis has become so suspicious of offers, apparently feeling he repeatedly has been misled by promoters and politicians elsewhere, that he no longer can recognize “a good offer when he sees one.

“I wonder whether he is capable of coming to an affirmative decision,” Lukenbill said. “His own indecisiveness is dragging this out.”

Lukenbill insisted Sacramento’s offer was better than those of Oakland and Los Angeles, even though there might not have been as much money in it for the Raiders.

He said that was because debts incurred by Oakland and Los Angeles in making good on their offers would require high ticket prices that would alienate fans.

“In Oakland, wait until the fans see it’s going to cost several hundred dollars, at least, to buy tickets,” he said. “The team would be very unpopular two years after going there.”

In Sacramento, he said, luxury boxes and club seats would, comparatively, be held down and ticket prices would be far more reasonable.

But, Lukenbill added, he recognized Davis had trouble moving from Los Angeles to Sacramento, a growing but medium-sized city.

“We have what he wants, but we’re in the wrong market for it,” Lukenbill said.

As negotiations dragged on, Lukenbill said, communications between him and Davis became increasingly difficult. Months before, Lukenbill indicated one serious issue in dispute was a demand by he and his partners for a share in the ownership of the Raiders to help guarantee that the franchise would remain in Sacramento. In the February conversation, Lukenbill did not mention that but said in general he had problems talking to Davis. Lukenbill added that no matter how hard he and his partners tried to improve matters, understanding and rapport with Davis deteriorated.

Those feelings apparently were picked up by Sacramento residents. By the time the City Council met Tuesday night to formally reject an extension of its bid, there seemed to be very few citizens who cared.

Lukenbill didn’t bother to attend.

A half-hearted attempt by City Treasurer Tom Friery to keep the deal alive was quickly rejected by Council members.

The next move in the saga of where the Raiders will play is expected March 12 in Oakland, when the Oakland City Council and the Alameda County Board of Supervisors meet to consider approval of a $660-million offer to Davis.

One step toward approval came this week when authorities finished negotiating a contract revision with the Oakland Athletics’ baseball franchise. The A’s will accept stadium expansion in exchange for $500,000 more from the sale of luxury boxes, a larger share of parking and concessions revenues and the right to leave in 1996 if they decide they don’t like sharing the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum.

There was bad news, however. The San Francisco 49ers claim they are due compensation if the Raiders return to Oakland in a “territorial re-invasion” that could be competitively detrimental to the 49ers.

Regardless of what happens in Oakland, however, the odds may slowly be shifting Los Angeles’ way in the bidding to claim the Raiders.

Negotiations between the Los Angeles Coliseum’s private managers, Spectacor Management Group and MCA, Inc., and Davis, were said Thursday to have reached a delicate stage, but to have promising elements.

Neither side would discuss the situation publicly, but Coliseum Commissioner Richard Riordan said: “I’m more optimistic. . . . The basic question is where can you sell (luxury) boxes for $100,000 a year, except in L.A?”

The Los Angeles offer includes building 200 luxury boxes and thousands of club seats either in a reconstructed or renovated Coliseum, depending on which is most satisfactory to both parties.

It also contains at least $70 million in franchise fees and other guarantees, a figure that may be low, but one which apparently doesn’t match Oakland’s in committed dollars. As Riordan indicated, the Los Angeles pitch is that Davis can make more money here than in the Bay Area, even if the advance guarantees are smaller.

Many people who have dealt with Davis on behalf of Los Angeles or suburban Irwindale, when that project was still alive, say they have the impression that Davis would prefer to stay in the Los Angeles area.

Accordingly, Oakland, like Sacramento, may be something of a sideshow, kept going by Davis to keep the Los Angeles negotiators worried enough to make a high bid.

If that is the case, it should become evident after Oakland has completed the formalities of approving its offer. Just as Lukenbill and Sacramento residents gradually perceived, Davis wasn’t really going to be coming north.