Anyone feel like weighing in on the tarps going up on Mt Davis?
Not a good look for the raiders quest to build a new stadium when they have to downsize their attendance levels. I guess they want their product on tv and were sick and tired of offering these 2 for 1 packages.
I think tarping off the seats is a good move. That Mt. Davis section was a monstrosity from the moment they added it in '95. They've rarely been able to fill it. Originally the cheapest seats up there were $59 I believe, and people didn't want to pay that much to sit way up there where you were so removed from the action. They tried lowering the prices up there to $25, and that helped. It got us a completely sold out season in 2011, but they needed extra perks to do it, like 2 for 1 specials, half-season ticket packages, quarter season ticket packages, etc.
Then last year when the NFL changed the blackout rules, the Raiders opted for the 85% option. This allowed them to call it a sellout whenever they filled 85% of the seats. This got them TV coverage for all but one game last year, but that came with a cost. When teams utilize the 85% rule, they must give the visiting team a higher share of the pie.
NFL teams currently pay the visiting team 34 cents on the dollar for every ticket sold to each home game. So, for example, when the Raiders set their minimum at 85% in 2012, and they sold 100% of their tickets, they had to pay the visiting team 50 cents on the dollar (instead of 34 cents) for the additional 15% sold.
It is not allowable to use the 85% option on some games and 100% on others. If you choose 85% it must be for every game of the year.
So for the 2013 season, the Raiders will NOT use the 85% option, they will go with 100%. If they fill up all of the 53,200 seats (the new capacity with the tarps up), they will pay the visiting teams 34% of the revenue (the lowest percentage possible).
They are losing about 16% of their seats, but I think it will result in a better atmosphere. Everyone will be closer to the action, and I'll bet it will be louder than before. I think that when people are way up so far from the field, they don't make as much noise. Even if they do, the sound is lost because that Mt. Davis section is above the rest of the stadium. With everyone no higher than the top of the walls of the 3rd deck, all the sound will be directed down to the field and less will escape. We should get that place ROCKING! Just like the good old days, when I first got my season tickets in 1980, when I watched Dan Pastorini break his leg the 5th game of the season and Jim Plunkett took over and guided the Raiders to a 9-2 record the remainder of the season, and a victory over the Eagles in Superbowl XV.
