This stadium is a big reason why I became an A's fan. The low payroll, blue collar A's and their dump of a stadium in the ghetto were a nice contrast to the fancy, high-payroll Giants in their downtown, bay side cathedral.
Not one mention of all those historical Day On The Green’s?!? Led Zeppelin, The Stones, AC/DC,Aerosmith, Van Halen, just about every band worth a damn in the 70’s & early 80’s played at the Coliseum! Even if you weren’t actually there you could hear the music for miles around! Sitting in the quiet Oakland hills while U2 played was priceless, literally!!
Those were fun times for concerts at Day on the Green. All the greatest bands passed through here not to mention Pink Floyd, Santana, Skynerd,frampton and on and on
Look at all that land AROUND the complex. CRAZY! Fond memories of both those places. Disney on Ice, A's gamea and the best time, a DAY ON THE GREEN in the summer of 1982. Gamma, Santana, The Tubes, Toto & Journey as the headliner during their ESCAPE tour. Absolute magic!!!
Many memorable games have been played on that field. Best fans in pro sports. My Uncle Erle Reese first took me to see the Raiders play there in 1979. Attended many games since then. Love the Raiders. RIP Uncle.
One day in the mid ‘90s I drove up to the O and the gate was open. I walked in, saw nobody and went and sat in the stands at the 50 yard line. It was an awesome Bay Area fall day and I was the only one there. I sat there for almost an hour just relaxing. IMO, I think it’s the best football stadium in the NFL if you’re sitting near the field. Just my opinion. Reliant Stadium in Houston feels like a concrete box and the roof is always closed. I hate it. The O may be dilapidated now, but back in the ‘70s, on a nice No. Cal Sunday afternoon, watching the Raiders win, what could have been better?
Yet you have never been anywhere near Rome nor the Oakland Colisuem stop repeating what you see other morons say on the internet & try thinking for yourself
Dayum. I didn't know the Coliseum was the same age I am. My uncle lived a couple of miles from it and one time when my folks and I went up to visit him we got up on his roof to see the Fourth of July fireworks show. Unfortunately, as a lot of the other people have commented it pretty much is obsolete and it looks like it has fallen into disrepair. The most unfortunate thing about this piece is that it pretty much shows how a lot of stadiums get declared obsolete even 20 years into their usefulness. I look at what happened in Atlanta. The Georgia Dome and Turner Field were considered state of the art when they were built in the mid-90's and played a big role in Atlanta getting the 1996 Olympics. In fact, they still looked in great condition as late as a couple of years ago. Unfortunately, both stadiums are scheduled to be demolished in the near future. Here in Los Angeles we still have Dodger Stadium, which just finished its 55th year of operation as well as the Coliseum and the Rose Bowl, which some people might call antiques but are still going strong. And we also have Anaheim Stadium which turned 50 last year.
I was born in 1960. I remember when it was being built. As a child, my family went to see the Ice Follies there, but they had problems starting, so we went to the outdoor arena and watched a soccer game instead. Over the next 2 decades, I saw several shows there. I left California in 1994, and pretty much forgot about the Colleseum. Though I despise Oakland, I find it sad such a magnificent building is crumbling into ruin.
The greed of sports makes these facilities 'obsolete'. How many buildings or houses are at least 50 years old? Now 20 year old stadiums and arenas are torn down. Atlanta, Arlington and arenas in Orlando and Charlotte.
Steven Hamburg How can you call it greed? Are owners wealthy? Yes. But they didn't get rich by being dumb. Professional sports is a business, and in business there's competition. They are simply trying to compete for the disposable income of Americans. Back in day going to a baseball or football game was common simply because there wasn't alot to do otherwise and TV sucked. Now there's high definition TV with a million camera angles, there's Netflix, etc. In the 70s it was going to a ball game or going bowling.
Here is a brand new team and a shiny new stadium for you. Even though the team is of no economic benefit to the city, the taxpayers will end up paying for it for the next 50 years. This corporate welfare scam, with the help of corrupt city officials, is all about redistributing wealth from the middle class to rich.
Having been to many concerts in Orlando at the old arena, the biggest problem was the bathrooms. They were only placed in the "corners" of the arena. I am sure they could have alleviated that problem without building a new arena. It was impossible to go to the bathroom. I went to many events in the many Atlanta stadiums (Phillips, GA Dome, Turner). It was a crime that they rebuilt them. There was nothing wrong.
Most of these 1960's and 1970's multi-sport stadiums were pretty crappy buildings to watch a game in, but each one has some history made inside it. When we tear them down we unfortunately throw away our connection to that history. Places like Lambeau Field and the LA Coliseum have real history and heritage attached to them. I think it is worth something to have a home field with that kind of deep tradition and history connected to it. We lose that connection to the past with disposable stadiums.
Absolutely right. I walked around this stadium off the BART when I was over there & it was huge even as I walked over the road/rail line & I'd been to the new Wembley. I wish I'd been able to go inside to get some pictures but it wasn't possible. So many teams are building identikit stadiums which might look modern now but can't compare with great old stands like at Dens Park in Dundee or places like Hillsborough,Goodison Park or all the demolished rugby league grounds. If they ever knocked Edgeley Park down & built a flat pack I'd never forgive them.You can't transport what happened there to a new place.
The Raiders are gonna move to Las Vegas The Warriors moved to the downtown San Francisco And the A’s might move cities but they are planning to make a new Stadium
It is a sad chapter in our lives to lose such glorious history. Just driving in Silicon Valley and the Bay Area, I remember all the cool businesses, restaurants, sports teams, and institutions that used to exist and are now gone. In many different ways, our society is actually getting worse. Money is largely the driving force, but money has no soul. In fact, it many times removes it.
I couldn’t get over the low cost to build the Coliseum. I thought it was a beauty back in the 70s. I wish they could fix the leaks and upgrade the electrical there. It would be nice to have one multipurpose around to remind people what it was like back in the 60s and 70s.
Same thing happened to Angel Stadium in Anaheim when the Rams moved in back in 1979. Took away the great views past center field. Luckily the views were restored by Disney after the Rams left.
Life in the 413 Also with Qualcomm stadium (now SDCCU Stadium) after the renovations in the 90's. Had a very nice view of the mountains and everything.
@Thomas Lane The Dodgers had the luxury of building a stadium only ever intended for baseball; LA already had the Coliseum and the Rose Bowl in the late 50s when O'Malley came calling. The Multipurpose stadium made sense financially when it's built on taxpayer dollars (only one stadium needed instead of two or more). Trying to get a baseball diamond and a football rectangle to fit in the same space didn't work!
@Thomas Lane It was never needed for anything else, save an occasional concert. LA did have both the Olympic Coliseum and the Rose Bowl, which are ancient, but both MASSIVE. It's also well-situated, in that there's easy freeway access, which even in the late 1950s, when the Dodgers moved out west from Brooklyn, was a fact of SoCal life. There's plenty of "buffer" so that fans can park without being preyed upon, which was in that era a bane of urban ballparks. Also, the Dodgers own their park; just imagine how run-down Chavez Ravine would be if the City of Los Angeles ran it!
I am Vikings fan and I feel for you...it sucks to invest your life into a team just to watch them leave. I really hate that Oakland is losing its team, what a great history they have there...sad
John, it's not a dump, it was remodeled in '95. Stop contributing to the propaganda. Do the fans need a billion dollar stadium to watch 8 games per year? No. I love my Raiders, but Oakland is a bankrupt, crime filled city with few redeeming qualities. I'm not surprised they can't hang on to an NFL franchise.
It is possible to make old stadiums still relevant if they are maintained properly: Dodger Stadium, Arrowhead Stadium, Fenway, Wrigley Field, Lambeau, etc. Up until the point Mt Davis went in, the Coliseum was still one of the better baseball stadiums around.
So here's what's crazy: The Atlanta Falcons are on their 3rd stadium since this thing was built: Atlanta Fulton County Stadium (which was shown in this video, The Georgia Dome and now Mercedes Benz Stadium. They really got their money's worth out of this thing.
Vikings as well. Met Stadium 1961-1981, Metrodome 1982-2013, (Borrowed the Gophers TCF Bank Stadium while US Bank was being built for 2014 and 2015 seasons, which was amazing by the way) US Bank Stadium 2016- present
More like, the taxpayers in the cities who are on their third stadium since the Coliseum was built have been bent over and taken it up the ass. There is no reason the Raiders "need" a new stadium even now. Pro sports are a god damn racket.
Back in 1962 , when the Oakland-Alameda Coliseum Authority was established, the stadium and arena being approved, East Bay politics, while already somewhat liberal, were predominantly WHITE. The multi-use thing was seen as a cost-effective means of using an expensive facility; it wouldn't be until 1973 that a facility that had separate baseball and football stadiums was opened, in Kansas City. And yes, for its TIME, the Coliseum was indeed "State of the art". The Raiders, after making do for six seasons, sharing Kezar with the 49ers in 1960, using Candlestick at the Giants' sufferance in 1961, and then, wanting their East Bay identity, putting up Frank Youell Field on Chaney College land as a temporary football field that looked like it was built out of a "Tinker Toy" set. But it WORKED. As East Bay politics got increasingly more liberal and more minorities participated, their interest in keeping major league sports franchises, let alone their COMPETENCE, was less and less. It's little wonder that Al Davis took his Raiders down south in 1982; he got fed up with the already deteriorating stadium and continued broken promises to build a football-only stadium in Oakland. Sadly, he got jerked around in LA as well, and at least got the Authority to build "Mount Davis", which made football halfway passable, but absolutely destroyed the ambiance of the place for baseball! And meanwhile, in the Arena, though it was renovated in 1996, the Warriors were also making do with an outdated facility. They did like the "Shark Tank" in San Jose (now the SAP center), and there was a serious bid to keep them there, but the "GSW" (an appropriate acronym for an Oakland-based franchise as it also means "GunShot Wound") couldn't get out of their contract until 2019. Again, neither Oakland nor Alameda County could get it together to keep the Warriors. The next blow, of course, was, after all too many attempts to find a different home for the As, so that the old semi-circle structure could be demolished, and a "mirror image' of Mt. Davis be built, to turn the place into a decent football stadium, the Authority signed the As up for a ten-year hitch, so the message was clear: the Raiders, if they wanted a better facility, had to go elsewhere. They have, and they'll be the problem of Las Vegas (knowing the Davis family, that's a "marriage" that's doomed...). I can well imagine that when the As lease is up, there will still be NOTHING done to either re-do the Coliseum as a decent baseball-only park, hell, I expect to still see that ghastly apparition in the outfield in 2026! There can be many ways that the As can be kept in the Bay Area, including working out use of Oracle Park in SF for at least a season. But it won't happen, because the current political leadership is mired in liberal stupidity and race-based politics, which are a good deal of the reason the place is falling apart and is terribly mismanaged. And that will be sad, but...there is SACRAMENTO, which has a successful 20-year run thus far with its AAA-team, and the current ballpark, though seating only 10,500 (lawn 'seating' brings it up to 14,000), was designed with eventual expansion in mind. There's plenty of baseball-hungry fans in the greater Sacramento area that'd fill an A's stadium. And if Sac-town doesn't take its opportunity, there's plenty of other cities, like Portland, Salt Lake City, Charlotte, the Tidewater area, Louisville, and Indianapolis, which can readily support an MLB franchise. Yes, the sad demise of a once-proud facility is mute testimony to the folly of liberalism and race-baiting politics.
At least the residents of Oakland have a brain and refused to give handouts to the richest people on the planet to build a stadium. The same people who have no problem charging you $14.00 for beer which tastes worse than your own urine. As for Vegas, their brains must be melting in the dessert sun. Like many other cities, Vegas will find out the hard way about the devastating results of corporate welfare.
DISCO-INFERNO-70 in NY the city receives $600 million in parking tickets and you know what? they lend it to the NY Mets back in the 2009 for the new stadium so these people will find a way to scoop it out our pockets n not their own.
I'm glad the architect explained the problem with multipurpose stadiums. When I was a kid I thought it was super cool that a stadium could either swivel seats from foul lines around to sidelines or pull out seats to make a sideline. I liked the baseball diamond in the football field in places like Oakland, San Diego, and Cleveland before they could put down sod when baseball season was over. But then you think about the fans who aren't close to home plate or between first and third base or right near the football sideline. All the rest of the fans were so far away from either sport. I went to a game at the Atlanta Fulton County Stadium and sat past third base. Our necks were turned hard right the whole ballgame because our seats were pointed at the center of the stadium, which was in shallow center field. That's when I realized multipurpose stadiums were a cool idea and when you were watching at home, but not so much when you were at the game. I hope the A's get their own park someday.
grew up a Raider Fan caught hell for it but was always proud of it...why do you not fight to preserve the Raider Mystique.... Oakland County Coliseum was the place of legends....then you let it go and now Las Vegas!???......thanks A Lot! if So Davis was still here would not have happened
I’m really hoping that Oakland can build a state of the art stadium with 80,000 seats to lure back the Raiders from Las Vegas because Vegas has the Vipers for XFL and might lose interest in the Raiders especially if Vipers wins a championship first year in the XFL. I really believe with the 49ers stadium issues with Levi’s and with the possibility of relocating to Utah and that the Raiders can potentially claim the whole bay for themselves. I really believe we can get the Raiders back in Oakland but a few things will have to take place first and foremost mark davis will have to sell the team to a San Francisco based individual so and that way we have someone that priorities the Bay Area next we’re going to need somewhere to play in the meantime while the new stadium is being built in Oakland im thinking maybe using the old current Coliseum while the new one is being built next door to it similar to how Atlanta built Mercedes Benz Stadium next to the Georgia Dome while playing at the dome.
Had the Coliseum been better maintained perhaps it wold not have become the armpit that it has. Dodger Stadium is several years older, and that is still considered to be a gem. Rather than junking the Coliseum why don't the two teams work on coming up with a proposal to renovate? That would cost much less. Lastly, personal opinion, why don't they start with getting rid of that upper deck where they can't sell the seats and have them covered with that tarp that screams to the world that they can't sell those seats. That would be a good place to start in my opinion.
0:56 "50 Years ago, this place was an absolute gem" Proceeds to ignore, this huge parking lot surrounding the facility. Everything that's wrong with America's land use and urban sprawl is in this frame. No one walks to the stadium. No one lives near it. Built for 8 games a year. The rest of the time, the stadium and the parking lot sit there....a complete waste of space within the urban fabric.
No, it wasn't built for 8 games a year. The Oakland A's played there too, as the video stated, it was a multi-use stadium. They also had many concerts there, back when there were a lot of bands that could fill a place like that. The coliseum was built before BART, hence the massive parking lots, people had to drive to the events. That's how it was in most cities then, public transportation has come a long ways since then.
Going with the ever decreasing attention span of Americans (millennials?) the sports "experience" is now one of constant activity somewhere in the stadium. The days of a person actually going to a baseball or football game to WATCH the game died out with the jumbotron. Most new stadiums seem to be using Buffalo Wild Wings as their business model
as long as people continue to pay the ridiculous amount of money to attend just one game of the major sports, then the cycle will continue. Players get paid hundreds of millions for 5-10 yrs service, how does any owner pay for that?? Not out of pocket, it's YOU, the ticket buyer that lets it continue. Where/when does it end, I don't know. I can only say that I can't afford a Knicks game or $10 water.
Roger Centre is going away soon, too. That's more because the retractable dome concept was a failure, being more expensive in the long run to maintain.
@@jonathanpusar5931 True. Canada's falling dollar (vs. the US dollar) and the costs of Canadian mandated health care have already driven out FOUR AAA baseball teams and was part of the reason the Expos departed after the 2004 season (the other being that disaster called Olympic Stadium). It'd be a shame, because Toronto has the population and the economy to easily support the Blue Jays, but again, liberal politics has eroded the ability of that franchise to compete, and there's numerous baseball-hungry metros south of the border that can make them a better deal.
Alex Tomasone yeah but fixing a leak with a Pepsi cup doesn't look professional for a team that says they have the money (while the stadium is probably being build with taxpayer money)
The formerly known as OAKLAND ALAMEDA COUNTY COLISEUM especially benefited the Oakland A's in the 1970's with the style of baseball they played when they three=peated as world series champions. They were known for pitching and defense. Compared to shorter outfield walls like Yankee Stadium for lefties and Fenway Park for righties the coliseum had a deep outfield wall. Had a LOT of fly foul ball territory that were easy outs that otherwise were in the stands at Fenway Park and Yankee stadium. The Baltimore Oriels of the same era played similar ball they exploited the similarly large foul teritory at their former Memorial Stadium.
Don Davis nobody remembers soccer playing at the Coliseum? 1967 Oakland clippers out of the National Professional Soccer League won a championship and the 1978 Oakland Stompers out of the North American Soccer League. The Oakland Stompers were at the Coliseum for just one season, but I remember them.
I remember 10+ years ago when the final stages were in place to demolish old Busch Stadium and start the construction of our now new ballpark. While the new Busch Stadium is wonderful, it doesn't have that same "coliseum" feel that old Busch Stadium had. While not ideal for viewing the game, because so many seats sat so far away from the field, the stadium felt even larger than it actually was because it housed some 56,000+ fans. The new stadium is wonderful and offers a picturesque view of the downtown skyline, but doesn't have that "larger than life" feel of old Busch. I think that above all else is what I miss most about the old stadium.
Life time Braves fan....always love Atlanta stadium...between 1966 and 1975....before it become Atlanta Fulton county stadium....changes were made after Ted Turner purchased the club, and it was never the same place, like during the Aaron years...like the steel foul pole mess towers, all baby blue beautiful wooden seats, a lot of foul ground...miss it to this date, 02/21...thank you, BCM
There's plenty of room to build a baseball ballpark and a football stadium in that coliseum parking lot. Build some nice shops and bars and it will be packed with fans
Every stadium at one point was "State-Of-The-Art". The problem with stadiums that have two tenants is that there's no time for renovations to occur. The only time they're not occupied is between Jan/Feb and late March.
The neighboring arena has the coolest exterior design. I have always thought so. I really worry if they are going to tear it down once the Warriors leave it.
Compared to some other arenas like MSG, our Northlands Coliseum here in Edmonton, or heck, even the frickin' Joe (Joe Louis Arena); the Oracle looks so modern.
I understand the business side of teams leaving cities who won’t agree to invest public money. The public should pay for SOME of stadium costs. I’m also a huge Vikings fan and US Bank Stadium is a mind blowing facility. I’m proud that it’s here. Anti-stadium people always say they don’t want their taxes raised, but look how many enormous things our new stadium has brought to Minnesota in its young life. The Wilf’s have put in billions to improve an entire portion of Minneapolis. Love our team and our ownership. I’m glad it was built. The Vikings bring so much more than football to our state. People forget that they only play 10 games there per year and paid for 50% of the build.
Pookiestud The Vikings stadium is a beauty. One of the best in the NFL for an indoor stadium. The stadium in Houston is awful IMO. It feels like a concrete box with seats, and it’s almost always too hot to open the roof. Out west I prefer the open air coliseums. I hope the Raiders new stadium can keep the roof open during most games, if that’s the plan.
I’ve only been here once, on my Honeymoon. It was perfectly fine them. It was spartan, dated and had that horrible outfield. At the time I felt as though it could be upgraded up to be modern once again. The best option of course to just build a new, baseball only field. The arena will be torn down and likely the stadium. This would make an excellent shopping mall, entertainment facility, office or factory to bring Jones to Oakland. The area has parking and highway infrastructure as well as public transport. I hope the area doesn’t just sit there toting away.
Yup. I will ALWAYS have fond memories of the place. It reflected it's community and it's people - hardworking, tough and in it for the long haul. The people that want prima donna palaces, I've never got. The Coliseum has had a wonderful history and served it's community well. The only real flaw in it, which isn't a design flaw is that it was built for a different era. Thus plumbing, electrical and wi-fi access is not modern. And you know what, I'm fine with that.
It has nothing to do with the tech and everything to do with maintenance. Lambeau Field is doing great in a significantly worse climate. It's 61 years old and up to date. It's all about putting the proper money into the stadium from the owners standpoint. The people own the Packers, so go figure.
Same situation as the stadium down south in San Diego. That's why both teams left their towns. The difference is San Diego offered the Chargers a new stadium next to the old one but the team wanted to be in the downtown area. The Raiders were offered NOTHING by Oakland.
The Athletics are planning to move to another stadium in Oakland in the 2020's. If they actually moved out of Oakland, they would probably move to San Jose which is still technically the SF Bay area.
I've got to say that "beautiful" is an understatement for PNC. First time I ever went to Pittsburgh I drove past the stadium on my way in from the airport. With the backdrop of the buildings across the river, it looked like an artist's conception of what the ballpark would actually look like
And so did the ABA's Oakland Oaks, who actually brought the Bay Area's first professional sports championship in the late 60's with Rick Barry jumping shop on the Warriors. Singer Pat Boone was one of the owners
It's still there and the Athletics are no closer to a new stadium. It's tough to deal with it when the thumb of the San Francisco Giants wants to squash Oakland out of existence. There will never be a resolution in Tampa and Oakland. Both substandard facilities. Yet the Rays and Athletics are very competitive and deserve better. Though it has been put on the back burner for now I believe Las Vegas will be the landing spot for one of these two teams. Las Vegas will have 4 professional sports teams in the next 15-20 years. Some NBA team will relocate there, maybe the Hornets or Pelicans. Tampa could easily move to Las Vegas once their lease is up as their city refuses to contribute to a new stadium but Oakland is just as possible. Teams look at the success of the Golden Knights and their rabid fans and they will see the packed Allegiant Stadium starting in September. The other solution is for some tech billionaire to either buy the Athletics or partner with them and front the money for a new stadium out of their pocket. I am really surprised this hasn't happened. Just the branding alone would be worth the money. Amazon Field, Microsoft Yards. What is a billion to Amazon when they will be a trillion dollar company.
Could someone enlighten me: when Cal -Berkley was renovating their stadium, was there any talk about making the stadium attractive for the Raiders to play in? Was it feasible to build a new stadium adjacent to or on campus for both the Cal football team and the Raiders to play in?
Always surprised me that local government gets involved in building sports stadiums for their teams. Seriously it’s unamerican if a team can’t afford to build its own stadium it doesn’t deserve to exist... 92 professional soccer clubs here in the uk.. all with stadiums built and paid for by the teams...
I don't trust ANYTHING these people say about these old stadiums. Older homes/buildings that are 50-100 years old, were usually built to last. The reason they wanna tear these down is greed and gentrification: by tearing it down and moving it to the waterfront, they attract wealthier clientele and renters/homeowners. That's all there is to it. Even if they did a serious rehab and seismic reinforcement of the Oakland Coliseum, it would be WAY cheaper than the millions for a new one. Why should the taxpayers have to pay for that?
I came to A's games in 65 and beyond. Campy, Rudi, Jackson, Odom, Hunter, Fingers, Bando, Green, North, to Henderson, Stewart, Welch..thanks for the great time!
Should of built a new football and baseball stadiums on the Coliseum site. Put the football stadium on one side of the Coliseum, baseball on the other, and an entertainment district in the middle. But unfortunately that will never happen
I know its too late to save the Raiders. But looking over the Oakland Coliseum property as a whole, why wasn't the idea of building a new stadium on the parking lot - and demolishing the Coliseum making that spot the new parking lot - not considered? That should have been the easiest solution. Its been done for examples in Foxboro (for the Patriots), in Pittsburgh (for the Steelers), and in Atlanta (for the Falcons).
Too late to save the Warriors too and time for A’s is running out as well. Warriors are moving back to SF and the A’s are trying to move to a new stadium in downtown Oakland.
Can someone explain to me why they designed the center field stands/football stands so high and never use the seats? They're always covered with the tarp for baseball and football. why?
Mt Davis was built to house the LUXURY BOXES. They are, of course, useless for baseball (Who wants to sit in a luxury box in the outfield?) Mt Davis was a really dumb idea, but par for the course in a City run by incompetence.
im fairly certain any new A's stadium will built right next to the old. while it lacks the views and downtown feel of att, its easily the most accessible, affordable, and feasible option. since it does lack the view and proximity to downtown oakland, they better do a damn good job bc it will almost certainly be considered inferior to att park as soon aa it opens. I wish there more political will and competents to facilitate a stadium on lake merrit at the laney college/ Kaiser center site. that would be my 1st choice and only other location that is serves by transit.
