McAfee Coliseum is a stadium located in Oakland, California that
is used for football and baseball games. Commonly referred to as The
Coliseum. Formerly known as, Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum, and Network
Associates Coliseum.
Left
Field - 330 ft
Left-Center Power Alleys - 367 ft, 362
ft, 388 ft
Center Field - 400 ft
Right-Center Power Alleys - 367 ft,
362 ft, 388 ft
Right Field - 330 ft
Backstop - 60 ft
In 1966, the city of Oakland constructed Oakland-Alameda County
Coliseum (or Oakland Coliseum for short) for two reasons: as a
new stadium for the Oakland Raiders and also in an effort to lure MLB
baseball to Oakland. In 1968, the Kansas City Athletics became the Oakland
Athletics and began play at the new stadium. The Raiders played their
first game there on September 18, 1966. The Athletics' first game was
played on April 17, 1968. The stadium complex cost $25.5 million to build
and rests on 120 acres (0.5 kmē) of land. The Oakland-Alameda County
Coliseum Complex at one time consisted of the outdoor stadium and the
indoor arena.
The outdoor stadium was commonly called "the Coliseum", while
the arena was called "The Coliseum arena". More recently, only
the stadium is called the Coliseum. The arena is now called Oakland Arena,
and is home to the Golden State Warriors basketball team of the NBA. The
outdoor stadium features a unique underground design where the playing
surface is actually below ground level. Consequently fans entering the
stadium find themselves walking on to the main concourse of the stadium at
the top of the first level of seats. This combined with the hill that was
built around the stadium to created the upper concourse means that only
the third deck is the only visible level from outside the park. This gives
the Coliseum the illusion of being a short stadium from the outside.
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In its baseball configuration, the Coliseum has more space between the
foul lines and the seats, especially near first base and third base, than
any other major league ballpark. Thus, many balls that would reach the
seats in other ballparks are caught for outs at the Coliseum.
In 1972, the Athletics won their first of three straight World Series
championships, and their first since their years in Philadelphia. In 1982,
the Oakland Raiders moved to Los Angeles, leaving the A's as the only
remaining tenants of Oakland Coliseum. The 1987 Major League Baseball
All-Star Game was held at the Coliseum. During 1988-1990 the venue saw
three more World Series. In 1989, the Oakland A's won their fourth Series
since moving to Oakland, as "Bash Brothers" Jose Canseco and
Mark McGwire of the A's defeated the San Francisco Giants in the
earthquake-interrupted "Bay Bridge" Series or "BART"
Series.
In July 1995, the Los Angeles Raiders agreed to return to Oakland
provided that Oakland Coliseum underwent renovations. In November 1995,
those renovations commenced and continued through the next summer until
the beginning of the 1996 football season. The steeply-pitched stands that
now span the outfield (and face the setting sun late in the day during NFL
games) acquired the derisive name "Mt. Davis", after the
ever-controversial Raiders owner Al Davis, from those who considered the
view of the Oakland Hills over the center-field bleachers valuable. The
new layout also had the somewhat peculiar effect of creating an inward jog
in the outfield fence, in left-center and right-center. There are now
three distance markers instead of one, at various points of the power
alleys, as indicated in the dimensions grid. The Raiders return also
heralded the creation of the Black Hole, a prolific and highly
recognizable group of fans who occupy the Raider's endzone seating during
football games.
Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum!
The Oakland
Athletics host the Seattle Mariners at
Network Associates Coliseum on July 2,
2003. The Mariners won 13-0.
Along with the since-demolished Atlanta-Fulton
County Stadium the Coliseum features the unusual configuration of
laying the football field on a line from first to third base rather than
laying it from home plate to center field, or parallel to one of the foul
lines, as with most multi-purpose facilities. Thus, a seat behind home
plate for baseball is behind the 50-yard line for football. The Coliseum
has the distinction of being the last multipurpose venue in the United
States that hosts both Major League baseball and an NFL team. (Note:
Although the Metrodome
and Dolphins
Stadium host both, these facilities were designed as football stadiums
that can adjust to host baseball.)
Primary
research by Jim Herdman & David Vincent
Courtesy of Retrosheet.
Naming Rights
In September 1997, UMAX Technologies agreed to acquire the naming
rights to the stadium. However, following a dispute, a court decision
reinstated the Oakland Coliseum name. In 1998, Network Associates agreed
to pay $5.8 million over five years for the naming rights and the stadium
became known as "Network Associates Coliseum," or sometimes,
simply, "the Net".
In 2003, Network Associates renewed the contract for an additional five
years at a cost of $6 million. In mid-2004, the Network Associates company
was renamed McAfee, and shortly after that, the stadium was renamed McAfee
Coliseum accordingly.
Despite the different name changes, locals generally refer to the
stadium as "The Coliseum". This fits the trend of older stadium
renamings being rejected by the general public. This is especially true in
the Bay Area where changes to the name of nearby Candlestick
Park have been wholly rejected by voters, and changes to the names of
both Pacific
Bell Park and the San Jose Arena were received with much negative
criticism.
New A's Stadium Plans
On August 12, 2005, the A's new owner Lewis Wolff proposed to the
Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum Authority the Athletics first official
plan for a new ballparkin Oakland. The new stadium would be located across
66th Avenue from the Coliseum in what is currently an industrial area
north of the Coliseum. The park would hold 35,000 fans making it the
second smallest park in the major leagues.
The Oakland Raiders would continue to play football in the Coliseum
until Al Davis figures out how to move back to Los Angeles.
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OAKLAND STADIUM
Oakland Alameda County Coliseum as seen from a satellite!
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