Raiders try to lure fans to Vegas in email about season tickets

OAKLAND, Calif. (KTVU) - One day after the Raiders announced their relocation to Las Vegas, the organization is soliciting deposits from season ticket holders for seats at the to-be-built stadium.

An email was sent to season ticket members Tuesday morning offering them chance to put down a $100 deposit on the new stadium in Las Vegas, but some fans felt it was too soon.

The sting is still fresh from the Monday announcement to fans, in which 31 NFL owners voted to relocate the team to Nevada. One NFL owner voted against the move.

Joe Pereira, a season ticket holder, said the email was ill-timed.

“I was stunned,” Pereira said. “To get the email the day after was a bit much. I think the only thing worse is if they would have sent it during the press conference yesterday.”

The email offers current season ticket members, whose accounts remain in good standing as long as the Raiders stay in Oakland, a special opportunity to purchase seats at the new Las Vegas stadium. The $100 deposit must be made before September 1, 2017 and is refundable.

Pereira has been a season ticket holder since 1995 when the Raiders returned to Oakland from Los Angeles. He even had tickets during a five year period of living in Las Vegas. He said he is not sure the team will work in sin city because there’s not a sense of community like there is in Oakland.

“I think at the end of the day, people are more interested in going to a sportsbook and being able to get free beers and free food, versus paying a PSL and the high ticket prices,” he said.

As for the Las Vegas deposit offer, Pereira wishes the Raiders would have let the dust settle.

“Waiting a couple of months to send it to the current season ticket holders would have been a better move,” he added.

According to the Raiders website, details regarding the process for the sale of personal seat licenses and Raiders season tickets at the new Las Vegas stadium are still being finalized.