Rather than issue furloughs, institute pay cuts or lay off
employees, the Oakland Raiders have opted to use the free time
created by the NFL lockout to increase their lagging season-ticket
base. Employees in every area of the organization except players
are being asked to sell season tickets and suites (single game or
annual) to new buyers in an amount equal to 10 percent of their
monthly gross salary.
OAKLAND
Rather than issue furloughs, institute pay cuts or lay off employees, the Oakland Raiders have opted to use the free time created by the NFL lockout to increase their lagging season-ticket base.
Employees in every area of the organization except players are being asked to sell season tickets and suites (single game or annual) to new buyers in an amount equal to 10 percent of their monthly gross salary.
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Yes, that means CEO Amy Trask and coach Hue Jackson.
For instance, an employee making $60,000 per year has a monthly salary of $5,000, meaning they will be asked to sell $500 worth of tickets for each month there is a work stoppage.
“That’s really attainable,” said Trask, who announced the plan to club employees March 11. “That’s two season tickets.”
Several NFL teams have cut back on pay, had employees take unpaid time and had layoffs. A 49ers spokesman said “we have consistently declined to discuss anything of this nature and we will continue to do so.”
A Raiders source put the club’s season-ticket base last season at approximately 23,000, the lowest in the NFL.
Trask would not say what would happen should an employee fail to reach the ticket sales standard.
“We’re not focused at all on people who say they can’t,” Trask said. “We believe everybody can. I will tell you, the vast majority of people in this organization are enthusiastic and excited about this program.”
Trask said that on the first day of the program, an assistant coach whom she declined to name sold five club seats. Employees have until the first exhibition game Aug. 11 to reach their targets, and refunds will be issued to fans for games that aren’t played if the lockout drags into August or later.
Although the Raiders have declined to make assistant coaches available this offseason, defensive coordinator Chuck Bresnahan told the USA Today he hadn’t sold any seats but wasn’t worried about meeting his quota.
“I’ve got to sell millionaires in a room every day to run and crash heads, so this is easy,” Bresnahan said.
Trask said employees could give leads on potential sales to members of the ticket sales staff and that relationships between departments that don’t normally cross paths have been formed.
She is encouraged by current ticket sales but said a full accounting won’t be done until later.
— Story by Jerry McDonald, The Oakland Tribune
