The Demo Site

(January 27)



When I think about Oakland Raiders football, the first thing I think of is the old NFL Films video, with its one-of-kind music and the voice of the legendary John Facenda:

The Autumn wind is a pirate
Blustering in from sea
With a rollicking song he sweeps along
Swaggering boisterously.
His face is weatherbeaten
He wears a hooded sash
With a silver hat about his head
And a bristling black mustache
He growls as he storms the country
A villain big and bold
And the trees all shake and quiver and quake
As he robs them of their gold.
The Autumn wind is a Raider
Pillaging just for fun
He'll knock you 'round and upside down
And laugh when he's conquered and won.

Classic. What doesn’t always come to mind is the Raiders running game – especially when you think about their hard core fans, known as Raider Nation.

But in what is a pretty unique marketing deal, the Oakland Raiders have signed on to sponsor the inaugural Oakland Running Festival. As part of the deal, the Raiders will sponsor the first mile of the marathon course and the Raiders cheer leading team - the Raideretts, “Football’s Fabulous Females” - will be at the finish line to cheer for runners. Festival participants will have the chance to buy a specially priced ticket package and be honored on the field in a pre-game ceremony at a 2010 Raiders Home Game.

It’s an unusual attempt to sell tickets but in this economy teams are starting to go well outside the box in terms of their more traditional marketing practices. For a team that has struggled as much as the Raiders lately, sponsoring a local event is a great PR move. This is a win-win for everybody and if you are a Raider fan the chance to be honored on a pregame ceremony is pretty amazing.

The logical next question – how many Raider pirate costumes can we expect to see on the race course? Quite a few I bet. The Oakland Running Festival is March 27-28, 2010.

http://www.raiders.com/news/article-1/1st-and-Goal-Oakland-Raiders-to-Sponsor-Oakland-Running-Festival/1fd69599-fc29-4c2c-913e-44ddd2801fb3


Have you submitted your entry for the best race t-shirt of 2009? Enter to win a free pair of Brooks!
http://www.thebizrunner.com/2010/01/which-race-had-best-t-shirt-of-2009.html