The Oakland A's of Fremont new stadium talk

• GM hopes stadium means more revenue
• A's announce Cisco Field: 350K
• Photo gallery
• Cisco Field information
• Oakland A's to be Fremont A's in 2011?

SAN JOSE, Calif. -- Before Oakland Athletics owner Lew Wolff started the A's press conference on Tuesday, the only items on the Cisco Systems stage were a couple of tables, a lecture stand and a Ticket Kiosk machine placed in the back.

The Ticket Kiosk is a sign of things to come for the Oakland A's and the city of Fremont. The Kiosk showed pictures of dining and spa treatments with "Relax after the game at The Spa" and "Reserve your seats now for one of our dining experiences."

The Kiosk also had an option for fans to upgrade their seats.

The Oakland A's are definitely headed for an upgrade from McAfee Coliseum and the future is in Fremont.

Wolff announced on Tuesday that the A's have reached an agreement to purchase a 143-acre parcel from Cisco Systems with the plan of building a baseball park in Fremont to be named Cisco Field.

"Today marks the beginning of a new era in A's baseball in the Bay Area," Wolff said. "Cisco Field will become a destination attraction that will be enjoyed by baseball fans throughout the Bay Area and beyond for generations to come. The location of the ballpark will enable us to significantly expand our marketplace while giving our fans a unique experience at what promises to be one of the most exciting venues in the country."

The Coliseum is also the home of the Oakland Raiders and has fielded the Athletics since 1968. The A's are now headed in the direction of many other teams such as the Giants at AT&T Park and the Mariners in Safeco Field.

"If you're playing in a stadium that can't produce the revenue streams that you need, than you are really rendering that franchise and the players," said Bud Selig, Commissioner of Major League Baseball. "This is a classic situation of a team that needs to take control of their own destiny and they have done it very, very well. They did what they had to do. They had no alternative."

Fremont is about 20 miles south of the Coliseum and 12 miles from downtown San Jose. With a population of over 210,000, Fremont is the fourth-most populous city in the Bay Area. The ballpark site is proposed to be located on the west side of Interstate 880 off the Auto Mall Parkway.

Wolff said that the team wouldn't decide on whether to associate "Oakland" with the A's for 2-3 years.

Cisco Field will be one of the more technologically advanced stadiums around. Cisco's technology will be used to enhance ticketing, concessions and management of game-day operations.

John Chambers, CEO and president of Cisco Systems, said the technology-enhanced stadium "will help change the future of sports."

"Technology is changing every aspect of our life experiences and for Cisco," Chambers said. "This is an opportunity to harness the power of our own innovative technologies to create a truly unique experience that transcends sports, connects communities and takes the fan experience to a whole new level."

The stadium will hold about 34,000 fans, and Wolff said the goal is to "bring fans as close to the game as possible."

Initial designs of the stadium show little foul territory, a huge scoreboard above the centerfield wall and a swimming pool by the right-field foul pole. 360 Architecture will serve as the primary design company for the ballpark.

The project will start once the A's gain approval from the city of Fremont, Alameda County and other government agencies. The estimated cost of the ballpark is between $400-500 million, with construction time taking between 24-36 months.

A's president Michael Crowley said that the A's are shooting for 2011 or 2012 for the first game in Fremont, and that an optimistic starting date for construction would be in 18 months.

Wolff didn't talk about specifics on where funding for the ballpark will come from.

"The financial plan will be presented to the City of Fremont and [Alemeda] County first," Wolff said. "Then we will discuss it [with the media]."

The A's are in contract with the city of Oakland to stay at the Coliseum through 2010 and have an option until 2013.

Wolff said that the A's have not closed the door on Oakland, but that Fremont is the team's direction for the future.

Oakland ranked 26th among 30 teams in attendance last season, averaging 24,402 fans per game -- by far the lowest among playoff teams.

http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2006/11/15/SPGLRMD55K1.DTL

I hope this "X Y of Z" thing doesn't catch on, because it bugs the shit out of me.

How will fans get there? Like the current A's home, the proposed new stadium is right alongside I-880; unlike the Coliseum, it's nowhere near any public transit. When the idea of an A's ballpark on the Cisco land was first raised a few years back, former Fremont mayor Gus Morrison gasped, "Gee whiz, if you're going to have a full house, you'll have 25,000 cars dumping out onto one freeway access."

...This is probably the single most pressing question on the minds of traffic-obsessed A's fans, and one of the questions posed to Wolff during the Q & A was how fans could possibly get to a weekday game when "880 is an unbearable commute already." Wolff replied, "Your question is a valid one," then mumbled something about needing to get "input from the community" before answering directly. Possible translation: "I'm going to let you people clamor for a mass transit link until the BART Commission caves and agrees to pay for one. Then I'll have a free transit upgrade, and my land will be even more valuable! Bwahahaha!"

Except for the swimming pool, which is awesome

I am also glad that the A's will remain in the Bay Area. Having to root for the Portland A's or the OKC A's would have been intollerable. I never really make it down to the South Bay, maybe there is a there, there.

http://img242.imageshack.us/img242/1697/ciscofield2yb0.png

http://oakland.athletics.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/oak/ballpark/new/index.jsp

Neyer on the state of things:

http://espn.go.com/blog/sweetspot/post/_/id/1756/oakland-makes-push-to-keep-as

Fremont’s chances of landing the Oakland A’s apparently were snuffed out when Tesla Motors, the electric car manufacturer, announced that it was moving into the old NUMMI plant, the Fremont Argus reports. Although Fremont officials were ecstatic about the Tesla announcement, they also had hoped the A’s would be interested in building a new ballpark at the NUMMI site. But with Tesla moving in, it now appears that the battle for the A’s is down to Oakland versus San Jose.

well this is unexpected

http://www.sbnation.com/mlb/2013/11/4/5065194/athletics-stadium-giants-park

Not really when you consider the Giants would end up making money off the deal and they are one of the primary reasons Oakland's stadium issues haven't resolved.

will not happen

But the whole territorial rights issue is about the Giants not wanting to share what it sees as its fanbase with the A's. They won't be able to do that if they're sharing a stadium. It could be especially bad if the Giants finish in last place next year while the A's are winning another division title.

if it's expected how come i never heard it mentioned before?

I don't think it was expected! I don't see why the Giants would want this arrangement, unless this is Bud's way of strongarming them into giving up their San Jose rights (which actually wouldn't surprise me).

yeah, i think earlnash is wrong if he thinks it makes sense for anybody

All I know is that I might have to quit my job if that happened. Game days destroy my commute.

last year til an interim home?

http://www.sbnation.com/mlb/2014/3/10/5490580/athletics-rumors-stadium-san-jose-oakland

so, 10-year lease with the Coliseum Authority

Here's the best website I found for all Coliseum/A's New Ballpark news: http://newballpark.org/

http://www.fieldofschemes.com/2015/12/28/10343/oakland-sends-as-a-list-of-ten-potential-stadium-sites-half-of-which-dont-totally-suck/?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=facebook

I can't see the Howard/Laney/Brooklyn Basin spots working unless they follow through on getting rid of the 980.

http://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/article/Oakland-moving-in-right-direction-with-idea-to-6633056.php

This is not something Billy Beane has said before: pic.twitter.com/tkwH1zTr0W

— Susan Slusser (@susanslusser) July 16, 2017

22,691 announced attendance for A's Opening Day at the Coliseum.

Clock strikes 2:47 as .247 hitter Khris Davis homers in A's home opener - https://sports.yahoo.com/news/clock-strikes-2-47-247-180050670.html

RIP Oakland A's (1968-2023)

bummer

don't cry because it's over, smile because it happened

https://i0.wp.com/www.mercurynews.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/BNG-L-BANDO-0122-1.jpg?fit=1280%2C9999px&ssl=1

Sad news whenever a team moves (although it has only happened once in the past 50 years in MLB) but a team in Vegas was basically inevitable.

lolz. I believe Jesus Lazardo is killing it in Miami or wherever

bummer

Looks like the A's are heading to....

Sacramento for 2025-2028 (with an option for 2029) at the same stadium that used to be their AAA affiliate (currently SF's AAA affiliate).

It appears Vegas is still an eventual option but this makes me think that there are additional concerns, despite the Fantasyland-esque stadium concept art.

It’s official: Oakland A’s to play three seasons in West Sacramento, Kings ownership announces

https://www.sacbee.com/sports/article287381405.html

Anyone want to bet how long it takes to build much needed affordable housing on the site? … I am optimistic and betting 15 years

So they're just going to share a stadium with the Rivercats?

“We’re prepared to accommodate the A’s and the River Cats to ensure a seamless transition for both teams and their fans,” said West Sacramento City Manager Aaron Laurel in a statement.

This is some real minor league, perhaps bush league shit. Gonna be wild seeing Judge, Ohtani and Betts on a minor league field in Sacto for a few years, and it will be a constant, unending reminder of how toxic, cheap and terrible for the sport of baseball Fisher is.

I hope the ghost of Charlie Finley haunts him to his grave.

this whole thing is incredible -- apparently the team will have no city name, but simply be 'the athletics'? playing in an 11K-seat stadium for years?

the only thing even comparable is hockey's arizona team, and i doubt that comforts anyone involved with MLB

cannot imagine the other 29 owners being cool about sharing revenue with a club that has spent decades digging itself into an irreparable hole; that sounds like lawsuit shit

that sounds like lawsuit shit

might get to catch the a's next week before they move out of the coliseum. ILB, any tips?

About players to watch?

well i'm obviously hopeful they'll bring in mason miller. but no, about things to check out at the stadium. i'm still pretty peeved i didn't get to try out rocky mountain oysters at coors field because i didn't know about the one place that sold them until the 7th inning!

Mason Miller is unreal. Hopefully you get to see him.

On that note, supposedly you can no longer get the edible locusts at Seattle.

I dont know if there’s any special food at the coliseum. You can crush a moons over manhattan at the dennys on Joe Morgan blvd

Avoid the food. If you need something to eat, get a bacon-wrapped hot dog from one of the vendors outside the stadium. If you need to eat inside the stadium, the bar and grille is okay. I can't remember if Treehouse has food but they have some okay beers like Henhouse, Drakes, and Elysian. They have food trucks in the entry plaza for some games ... if you're going to one of the Marlins day games, those are good bets.

at the a’s pirates. one of the a’s bat boys has a goatee?

thanking u for bringing the nice weather

it is seriously nice. some sloppy play on the field, both sides. they are all probably hungover? day game in may, whos gonna care?

all this concrete reminds me of the vet. same era i think. i dont remember if the vet had pee troughs tho

ok the on field bullpen is crazy

I don’t think any of the planned protests/actions are near there fwiw … but things are scheduled.

oooh good lookin out. was thinking of stopping by the berkeley bowl or viks chaat after but maybe i’ll head home early?

I don't think you'll have any trouble getting to vik's or berkeley bowl west.

lollin'

There’s also a really good burmese restaurant in allendale neighborhood… it’s like the “unhipster” Burmese restaurant lol

Seems like as good a thread as any for this very good article about the potential for public ownership of baseball teams:

https://www.cbssports.com/mlb/news/public-ownership-works-for-some-of-worlds-best-sports-teams-is-there-a-future-for-the-idea-in-america/

https://i.imgur.com/UnlSf8T.jpeg

(Vegas would later go on to smash that day's all-time high temperature by 3 degrees: 120F)

whoops:

https://i.imgur.com/UnlSf8T.jpeg

i assume they will build an A/C dome.. which is its own brand of stupid

it blew my mind to learn that chase field was air conditioned during last year's WS

but then i found out from watching an old broadcast that the astrodome was also air conditioned?

truly, we thumb our noses at god

https://res.cloudinary.com/bleacherreport/image/upload/c_fill,h_600,w_900/oglddnmyaardt6rsen7w.jpg

I hope they flew in some famous alumni for today's game--Reggie, Rickey, Fingers, the Bunyan Brothers.

What an emotional series here. @DALLASBRADEN209 @jennycavnar paint an amazing scene in Oakland at the Colosseum. JJ Bleday Bay Bay with a fantastic catch, the fans sing “take me out to the ball game” for the last time and “sell the team” chants. Sorry MLB let you down, Oakland ❤️ pic.twitter.com/faCaSFQExZ

— Zach (@zoidbergererer) September 26, 2024

"A’s legends Rickey Henderson and Dave Stewart threw out ceremonial first pitches to current A’s Lawrence Butler and Mason Miller, while former Big Three ace Barry Zito returned to sing the national anthem."

Good enough--someone will be happy.

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/GYbwytGaAAAD_-2?format=jpg&name=large

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/GYbwFt9akAA8jpQ?format=jpg&name=large

https://t.co/OUGo3oK2Ef pic.twitter.com/iSoX7wDjom

— Céspedes Family BBQ (@CespedesBBQ) September 26, 2024

Charles O. Finley for Halloween last night--truly the dustbin of history (even explanations didn't help).

https://i.postimg.cc/QMvDp8mp/charlie.jpg

Meanwhile the time table for the sale has been adjusted… which is basically bureaucratic kicking the can down the road, resulting in drastic budget proposals

For those of you who don’t know where the Oakland Coliseum is and what the area is like … it’s a rare week when there isn’t at least one homicide in the vicinity.

clem: talk about an "inside baseball"-level costume! Next time you could add a goat to the ensemble.

There was a rule against live animals, so I passed out orange baseballs instead.

I'd heard it was going bad, but nowhere near this bad... dear lord

https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2025/jul/02/athletics-las-vegas-stadium-john-fisher-mlb-debacle

the groundbreaking happening on the site of the demolished "Tropicana" seems appropriate.

colossal fuckup by manfred, honestly

https://i.imgur.com/QNbfp3d.png

Allegedly Fisher's latest home purchase:

https://www.lasvegashomes.com/for-sale/10891-stardust-drive-las-vegas-nv-89135/10267-1534882