WHO says the Raiders Are Selling Out Seasons Tickets for the “First Time in Franchise History”?

American Football

“Raiders approaching team’s first season-ticket sellout, owner says” – it makes a great headline, but is it true? Weren’t season ticket sellouts a regular occurrence in the late 1960s and throughout the 1970s?

The Oakland Raiders are on the verge of selling out their season tickets for the first time in franchise history, ESPN.com reports.

Which leaves me a bit confused. Didn’t the Raiders consistently sell out their seasons tickets in the late 1960s and throughout the 1970s?

Until they moved to Los Angeles?

I very clearly remember buying tickets to Oakland Raiders football games on a game-by-game basis before they made their first trip to the Super Bowl in 1968.

It wasn’t necessary to buy seasons tickets those days because American football games rarely sold out – and certainly not on a seasons ticket basis.

I was sorely disappointed the season following the Raiders trip to the Super Bowl 2 because the entire Oakland Coliseum had been sold out to seasons ticket holders.

This was unprecedented. I believe the Raiders were one of the first (if not the first) American football team to do so.

I’ve tried googling this to back up my claim, without success. All I can say is, if the entire stadium wasn’t sold out to seasons ticket holders, perhaps a few hundred (or a few thousand) tickets were held aside for whatever reason.

Talk of the Town

But this was clearly the Talk of the Town until the Raiders relocated to Los Angeles: “If you want seasons tickets to the Oakland Raiders, you will have to inherit them!”

The first time in decades, maybe, but certainly not the first time in franchise history!

And this is what caused so much of the resentment about the Raiders skipping town. The Oakland Raiders had sold out every home game for well  over a decade by means of seasons tickets.

Not only that, they had the best home field advantage of any professional sports franchise in the United States. And that includes the National Football League, Major League Baseball, the National Basketball Association, and the National Hockey League.

Of course the Raiders were an easy team to like. They won more than 66% of their games at the Oakland Coliseum before moving to Los Angeles.

And while I’m on the subject, if the Raiders are really on the brink of selling out the Oakland Coliseum, would they consider re-opening Mount Davis? Just curious …