The Canberra Raiders Senior Management group have continued their sporting tour of the United States with a visit to the Oakland Raiders (NFL) training centre and game day. The visit provided more invaluable behind the scenes access to a three times Super Bowl champion.
The visit was extremely important, as the Oakland Raiders share many similarities with the Canberra Raiders. Both clubs have proud histories built on hard work and solid fan support, with three championships each in their respective competitions.
Oakland Raiders impressive gym.
The Oakland Raiders have however employed several strategies in recent times that ensure it stays relevant in the cut throat competition that is the NFL. They have upgraded their training facilities to be state of the art, helping to lure potential recruits. Despite less than successful results of late, the club still boasts a membership figure of 42,000. This is a very high figure considering the Oakland Raiders play in a stadium that is not as attractive to spectators as many of its competitors.
Personalised dumbbells in the Oakland Raiders gym.
Raiders Commercial and Marketing Manager Jason Mathie spoke on the great experience the group enjoyed in Oakland.
“Visiting the Oakland Raiders was advantageous in a number of ways with Oakland staff being extremely honest and open in sharing their experiences, both good and bad, for collective gain” Mathie said.
“We wish them well for the remainder of the current season, and future seasons. In an ideal world we will see the Raiders dominating in both the NFL and NRL in the not too distant future and we look forward to furthering our relationship”
Jason Mathie, Don Furner and John Bonasera outside the Oakland Raiders training centre.
Having previously watched the Seattle Seahawks win, the group were not a lucky charm for the Raiders, as they put up a tough fight but eventually went down 34-20 in their matchup against the Kansas City Chiefs. It was a near capacity crowd of 55,010 fans who watched the game at Oakland’s O.co Coliseum stadium.
Another impressive stadium - Oakland’s O.co Coliseum stadium.
Raiders Chief Executive Officer Don Furner hopes the relationship formed between the two clubs will continue to grow in the future.
"We've got a lot of similarities with the [Oakland] Raiders and the extension to their football operations, upgrade and the cost is similar to what we're looking at. Everything is on a bigger scale over here. You pick up two or three things from every team over here" Furner said.
"We left a couple of our 'Hulk' jerseys with the Raiders. We'd love to have an ongoing relationship with them. We've been very lucky with the opportunity all of these teams have offered us.”
Ricky Stuart and Don Furner on their tour of the training centre.
The Raiders Senior Management group will finish up their tour of the United States with a visit to the San Francisco 49ers (NFL).
The Raiders Senior Management group is made up of Chief Executive Officer Don Furner, Head Coach Ricky Stuart, Commercial and Marketing Manager Jason Mathie and Football Manager John Bonasera.
CLICK HERE for the group’s experiences visiting the Seattle Seahawks training facility.
CLICK HERE for the group’s experiences at the Seattle Seahawks and Washington Huskies game days.
CLICK HERE for the group’s experiences visiting the University of Oregon campus.
CLICK HERE for the group’s visit to Jarryd Hayne’s home ground, Levi Stadium.
