The Oakland A's of Fremont new stadium talk

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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