Raiders Agree to a $174-Million Cut in Oakland’s Offer

Oakland officials, buffeted by a storm of public criticism over their $660-million deal to return the Raiders to the city, announced Friday afternoon that team owner Al Davis has agreed to accept $174 million less.

The total price of the revised deal would be about $486 million in guaranteed revenue and stadium expansion funds.

Mayor Lionel Wilson, Alameda County Board of Supervisors Chairman Don Perata, and Raiders negotiator Jack Brooks appeared at a news conference to say that the agreement, announced with great fanfare 19 days ago, had abruptly been revamped to reduce the amount of the ticket sales guarantee that the city and county are giving the Raiders for 15 years.

The new agreement, however, will have to go back before both the Oakland City Council and the Alameda County Board of Supervisor for approval. A City Council session to consider the altered proposal was called for Tuesday night.

Under the proposed new deal, Oakland and Alameda County would be responsible for selling only the best 36,000 seats in the expanded 57,000-seat stadium. The Raiders would be responsible for selling the 21,000 general admission seats. The value of total city and county ticket guarantees to Davis would then decline to about $428 million, plus a $53.5 million commitment to expand and renovate the stadium and $5 million for a Raiders Hall of Fame.

Under the original deal, the city and county were responsible for selling all tickets. The monies to be paid to the Raiders would have been doled out over the 15 years of the agreement.

The latest proposal appeared designed to head off a petition drive to subject the Raiders agreement to a public referendum.

But within hours of it being announced, a leader of the opposition, City Councilman and mayoral challenger Wilson Riles Jr., said he felt the petitions would continue to be circulated. The opponents have until April 11 to submit 19,000 signatures of registered voters, but it was not immediately clear whether an alteration of the agreement would necessitate new petitions.

Riles pointed out that under the revamped deal, the city and county would still be responsible for selling all premium seats, often for thousands of dollars above base ticket prices. This, he said, is the most difficult part of the sales operation, and the taxpayers would still pick up the tab if sales fell short.

“Al Davis has manipulated this city too much for us to fall for any more of his okey-doke,” said Riles, who is one of several candidates running against Wilson in the June mayoral election.

In Los Angeles, where officials led by Mayor Tom Bradley have continued their efforts to reach an agreement with Davis to keep the Raiders in town, Friday’s developments in Oakland were greeted calmly.

Deputy Mayor Mark Fabiani said Bradley felt the new Oakland deal was “just part of the ebb and flow of these negotiations.”

Coliseum Commissioner Richard Riordan said he thought Oakland officials, in seeking to revamp their agreement with the Raiders, were bowing to political necessities in Oakland.

“I didn’t expect Oakland to turn over and drop dead on this,” Riordan said. “They’re still a strong competitor, but I think Davis will eventually conclude it is to his greater advantage to play in Los Angeles.”

Davis, as is his custom, made no statement on the matter.

Reich reported from Los Angeles and Herron Zamora from San Francisco.