Raiders To Reduce Stadium Capacity To Avoid Blackouts

[Teagz]

ALAMEDA -- Capacity for Raiders games at O.co Coliseum will be reduced by nearly 10,000 to 53,200 in 2013, and approximately 4,850 season-ticket holders from the east side high-rise structure known as "Mount Davis" will be relocated, the club announced Wednesday.
Raiders CEO Amy Trask described the decision as a "tool" to ensure games remain on local television as well as to promote more of a community and family-friendly atmosphere.
Fans who paid $260 per season ticket on the east side structure will be moved to the west side third deck, and their tickets will cost $250 this season -- or $25 per game including preseason games.
All seats in the west side third deck from sections

A sparse crowd braves the soggy weather Sunday, Dec. 19, 2010, at the Coliseum in Oakland. (D. Ross Cameron/Staff) (D. ROSS CAMERON)​

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304 through 330 will be $250 per season ticket -- even those that previously cost $610 or $460 depending on how close they were to the 50-yard line.

"It certainly makes this entire third deck very, very attractive to families -- especially families with a lot of kids," Trask said.
All other season ticket prices will be reduced $10.
In reducing the maximum capacity from 63,132 to 53,200, the Raiders will have the smallest venue in the NFL. Soldier Field, home of the Chicago Bears, seats 61,500.
With invoices having gone out to season-ticket holders starting Tuesday, Trask said it's too early to tell if the Raiders' 4-12 season in 2012 will cause a reduction in the amount of renewals for 2013.
Reaction to relocation

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has been met with concern with some season-ticket holders, although Trask said the Raiders will work with fans who want to stay near those they consider neighbors and friends.

"Some people are just a little hesitant about change. ... It's not an insignificant but not an overwhelming number," Trask said.
The east side structure, built under terms of a deal that brought the Raiders back to Oakland from Los Angeles in 1995, probably will be covered with a tarp. Fans and media have long called it "Mount Davis" after Al Davis, the late Raiders owner.
The Raiders had just one television blackout in eight regular-season games in 2012 with help from the NFL's "85 percent" rule, which allowed them to declare a sellout (and give the NFL a bigger cut of the ticket sales) if 85 percent of their non-suite tickets were sold by Thursday.
The average regular-season attendance for the Raiders in 2012 was 54,217.
Trask said closing of the east structure would be made in lieu of the 85 percent rule. The club is also planning to eliminate other "tools" to achieve sellouts, such as 2-for-1 ticket giveaways sponsored by companies such as Compass Media and Hawaiian Airlines.
The A's have tarped off sections of the third deck since 2006, reducing capacity for baseball to the 34,000 range. The Jacksonville Jaguars have reduced capacity by approximately 10,000 in the same manner.
According to Trask, NFL rules state that once a club closes off a section, it cannot be reopened for any games regardless of ticket demand -- even in the case of the postseason.
Trask said the Raiders are continuing to focus their energy for a new stadium on the current site and have been in talks with the city and county, with the next round of discussions coming next week.
There have been discussions, but not recently, about the possibility of sharing the 49ers' new stadium in Santa Clara.
"We have not closed the door on that opportunity, but our focus is on this site," Trask said.
Regarding unconfirmed reports that Raiders owner Mark Davis is looking to add a new executive and has interviewed NFL executive vice president of operations Ray Anderson and former Madison Square Garden president Scott O'Neal, Trask said: "I have enjoyed participating in the discussions we've had with each of those gentlemen, but we don't have anything to announce in that regard yet."