The City of Oakland has a novel idea for bringing itself back from near-bankruptcy. That novel idea is to gouge Raiders, Warriors, and A's fans an additional 10% on all tickets for all home games.
It's still just an idea, but it's an idea that the Oakland Tribune reports the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum Authority board will be hearing out at today's board meeting. The idea sprung up among Oakland City Council, which means it has a good chance of being seen favorably by the Stadium Authority board. Because a couple of those City Council members who came up with the idea also to be on the Stadium Authority board.
"I expect some push-back, but I expect it will get done," says Oakland City Councilman Ignacio de la Fuente, who brought it up to Council and will now consider his own measure as a member of the Stadium board, in remarks to the Tribune.
That 10% surcharge is intended to finance operations and service of debt on Oakland -Alameda County Coliseum and Oracle Arena. Note that there are no new attractions or services being proposed here, they're pretty much just adding a 10% charge to service their old debt.
This surcharge is entirely the idea of the City of Oakland and not the sports franchises. And it could easily backfire on Oakland. What Oakland sees and "an additional 10% charge", the Raiders, A's and Warriors may see as "an additional reason to move to another city."
Joe Kukura is a freelance writer who was known as "Joe McAfee Inc." until they let their naming rights expire.
