The stadium that the Oakland A's plan to build on the west side of I-880 in Fremont is shown in an architect's rendering. The arena would seat 36,000 fans on land near the old Baylands Raceway.
Posted on 11/07/2006 8:02:33 AM PST by SmithL
After months of negotiations, A's officials are ready to declare their intention to acquire the rights to a 143-acre site near the former Baylands racetrack, city-owned land that is now leased to Cisco Systems, sources close to the negotiations said Monday. The A's plan to announce that the site will be the preferred location for a baseball-only stadium, which the team hopes to construct without public financing.
A's managing partner Lew Wolff, along with Cisco executives and Major League Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig -- a former fraternity brother of Wolff's at the University of Wisconsin -- are expected to make the announcement at a news conference in the Bay Area next Tuesday, the sources said.
Cisco is expected to cede control of the property, south of Auto Mall Parkway on the west side of Interstate 880, to the A's. Cisco is likely to be a major sponsor of the ballpark and could have its name on the stadium, sources said.
A's spokesman Jim Young would not confirm the timing of the announcement or its exact nature. But he noted that "Lew Wolff said that after the season is over that he hoped to able to give everyone an update of where we are -- and obviously the season is over.
"From an organizational standpoint, we are getting closer to announcing some concrete plans that will significantly impact the future of the A's in the Bay Area ...
(Excerpt) Read more at sfgate.com ...
Only 36,000 seats? That's a joke, right?
"Only 36,000 seats? That's a joke, right?"
True -- it is aboiut 20,000 too many.
What's with that home run proof... thing (looks kind of like a parking garage with amenities) in the back?
Well for me personally it is. HOwever the team's owners will be squawking for a bigger one in a couple of years. We have that issue in Orlando, where we have a beautiful arena, but the owners and the league say the team can't stay unless they build a bigger one for the Magic. Yet, they rarely sell out the 15,000+ arena.
"Well for me personally it is. HOwever the team's owners will be squawking for a bigger one in a couple of years. "
You should be like Los Angeles -- they don't use public funds for ANY sports teams.
Yankees and Mets this past season drew about 7.5 million...each existing stadium has a capacitu of about 55,000..Both teams are building new stadiums..capacity for each is about 40,000...
It's still more than Fenway or Wrigley, right?
New Mets Stadium s/b about 45,000 (Reduction of 9,000)
New Yankee Stadium s/b 51,800 (Reduction of 3,200 or so)
Not sure, but if it is, it isn't much more. Don't get me wrong, I think they make staduims too big these days. The problem is that most all sports have come down to maximizing profits and selling "stuff", which imo, does nothing to enhance the whole sporting experience. In fact it detracts from it.
I was in the upper deck of Shea Stadium (very last row) for Game 7 against the Cardinals. The woman next to me commented on how nice the new stadium will be.
I agreed...but mentioned that, given our seat locations, we wouldn't be in it.
They should be renamed the "Cisco Routers".
I remember being in the old Yankee Stadium, as a youngster..waaay up in the top deck....with 76,000 people...earthshaking..I also remember in the 80's when in Cleveland on a business trip..going to the "mistake by the Lake" for a Tribe game ..day game in late August..when there were about 900 people in a stadium that could hold 85,000
What happened to baseball? No one really cares about the teams or the series except a few extreme sports fans. Today, the Cards win it all and it's already yesterday's ho-hum news before the final out.
IMO it was the strikes, stadiums with luxury box-only seating, the steroid/drug controversies, our short attention spans, and superior marketing from the NFL.
Gone are the days when my BIL, brother, neice, and myself went to Veterans Stadium to catch the Mets and Phillies for less than $100 including food.
The trend lately seems to be to fewer seats. They think it makes them more disirable.
Meant desirable.
What makes it worse is stuff like this:
The front row at Comerica Park in Detroit is farther from home plate than the back row was in Tiger Stadium.
Couldn't agree more. If you go to Alltel Stadium in Jax and sit at the top of the stadium you're in the neighborhood of 2 miles away. But at Florida Field in Gainseville you are right on top of the field, it seems.
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