A year ago, the Coliseum Authority inked a deal with internet retailer Overstock.com for naming rights at the Coliseum. That led to a further renaming from Overstock.com Coliseum to O.co Coliseum, which rolls off the tongue like so many classic stadium names like CMGI Field, PSINet Stadium, or 3Com Park. Apparently the A’s have been rather casual about honoring the change, because the references to O.co either at the stadium or during broadcasts are few and far between. The reason? Money, of course. The Trib’s Angela Woodall reports that the naming rights deal splits the $2 million per year between the JPA and the Raiders, with nothing going to the A’s.
Find O.co in this screenshot
Woodall points out that the A’s have control over the pouring rights and signage, a deal that was hammered out in the post-Mt. Davis settlement. The A’s and O.co are working out their own deal, though I have a sense that both sides are bringing an overinflated sense of worth to the proceedings. For now, the team is only obligated to promote O.co three times per game during radio and TV broadcasts. So it’s not surprising that when fans go to the Coliseum page on the A’s website, they might not realize that O.co is a sponsor due to the lack of mentions.
That’s just as well. Even though the A’s have many more games broadcast than the Raiders, O.co probably values the mentions during Raiders games, which are nationally broadcast, more than the baseball team’s mostly local broadcasts. Last Monday, the SEC closed an investigation into the retailer’s previous financial disclosures. That could halt the company’s six-month stock slide, though you wouldn’t know it from trading this week.
The Coliseum has gone through several name changes in its life, all of them starting with Mt. Davis:
- Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum (original-1998)
- UMAX Coliseum (1997, aborted)
- Network Associates Coliseum (1998-2004)
- McAfee Coliseum (2004-08)
- Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum (reprise after McAfee deal expired, 2008-11)
- Overstock.com Coliseum (2011, briefly)
- O.co Coliseum (2011-current)
Isn’t it time to leave well enough alone?
newballpark.org 
Horrible name also probably why the A’s dont want to mention it.
Its time to leave for a ballpark that will have the same corporate name for at least 30 years 😉
Cespy gets another fastball and destroys it… yet SportsCenter and Baseball Tonight could care less.
Why would the A’s make any extra effort to push O.co if it is good for the Raiders and JPA not the A’s? How good has the JPA been to the A’s for quite some time now? Regarding the negotiations, what meat is left on the bone for the A’s? I’m sure the A’s will take any additional revenue they can but it sure seems like we are talking some very minor $$$. On the other hand, I actually do not think ‘O.co’ is a bad name (just my opinion)
The irony of this is the A’s get a pittance of the naming rights $$$, play in a slum of a stadium, a poor retail location and get treated iffy at best by the Oakland powers. Less than 40 miles away waits a site that will have premier naming rights deal with a international recognized corporation, a top 10 city that is eager for them, nice retail location and a new high tech stadium. The stumbling block is ‘MLB the business’ isn’t sure if it would be good business for MLB.
It’s the Coliseum and always will be.
I don’t care what the official name is – to me, this place is the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum. Similar to Candlestick Park – forget the 3Com or Monster nonsense.
Is SMG involved at all with Coliseum lease negotiations? Without anywhere else to play, the A’s might not have a choice in what they call the Coliseum.