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)
The way the schedule is currently formatted, with the season starting on Wed-Fri and ending on Wed, it’s practically impossible to schedule a Sunday opener. This format is fairly new, so if MLB were to go back to starting on Sun-Tue and ending on Sun, there might be an opportunity for a day opener. Cincinnati used to always have the first game of the season, sometimes on a Sunday, almost always a day game before everyone else as a nod to Cincy being the most senior of senior league franchises.
Lone Stranger replied to my second question, saying, “Anything earlier than 6pm or so would need to be near people who can leave work early and still see first pitch. i.e. Downtown.” Other responses to the two questions were mixed, some citing favorable weather for day games, others wanting a night game as a better chance for a sellout.
FWIW, The Giants have done day openers going back to their days at the ‘Stick.
No home runs were hit in last night’s inaugural regular season game at Marlins Park in Miami, which despite the sample size has many thinking the place plays too large. Giancarlo (Mike) Stanton hit two blasts that would’ve been out at some parks (including former Marlins home Sun Life Stadium), yet ended up as warning track outs in the new stadium. Kyle Lohse threw a no-hitter through six. The roof was open, which may have helped knock down fly balls. The Marlins don’t play another home game until April 13th against the Astros. Against Houston pitching and with a closed roof, we’ll probably see different results, including the proper debut of the park’s controversial home run feature.
Comparison of dimensions between the new Marlins Park and the team's old home, multipurpose Sun Life Stadium
Lance Berkman hit one of the few extra base hits, a double, before saving a blast for his postgame interview (sorry, no option to embed).
It’s the biggest ballpark in the game. People keep trying this big ballpark deal and it never works. I mean, Detroit moved the fences in, (the Mets) moved the fences in. There’s a reason why it’s 330-375-400. That’s a fair baseball game. You try to get too outrageous and you get something that I think’s gonna be detrimental to (the Marlins).
Berkman, who laid on a bit of his usual snark, went on to talk about what baseball fans look for when taking in a game. Though he liked the architecture, Berkman didn’t much care for the Marlins’ game presentation.
One of the things about baseball that people gravitate towards is nostalgia. That’s why they love Wrigley Field, they love Fenway Park, because you can kind of step back in time. What they’ve tried to do here is step forward in time because (of) a lot of the things you don’t normally associate with baseball. You don’t see cheerleaders at games, they were there tonight. You don’t see flamenco dancers, they were there tonight. You don’t see DJ’s and bands and stuff during the game, you saw that tonight. A lot of things that they’re trying to advance the game – I’m not sure that baseball fans embrace that kind of change.
We’ve had this nostalgia-vs.-progress/modernism debate here on the blog several times and as recently as earlier in the week. It doesn’t manifest itself solely in architecture or design, it’s also a matter of packaging the game. While Berkman’s statement may be a bit presumptuous, it touches on the not exactly black-and-white debate that’s raged on about the need for a “true” or “pure” baseball experience versus something that is more accessible for casual fans and younger generations. Personally, I want a modern form and a simple, uncluttered game presentation. What do you think?
Also, take a look at the blog’s Twitter feed for my initial reactions to Marlins Park. I expect to visit later in the year as I make an East Coast sweep, so I hope to have a review shortly afterward.
If the Warriors and the City of Santa Cruz can hammer out a deal, we may see pro sports in Surf City for the first time in… ever?
Rendering of the inside of the 3,200 seat D-League arena
After having talks with officials in San Jose, the W’s are looking at Santa Cruz, which has no existing pro sports franchises that could compete with a D-League franchise. Last summer the W’s bought the Dakota Wizards, who play their home games in Bismarck, ND. Rumors surfaced quickly that the team could be on the move as the big team could look to cut travel costs and make the affiliate more accessible, the same way MLB teams have been reining in minor league franchises to be local satellites. The key to the relationship is that the W’s are one of a handful teams that wholly control their D-League affiliate, as opposed to other affiliates which may have players from two or three NBA teams on their rosters.
Santa Cruz is a small city that has generally resisted big-ticket civic projects. While the area is not known for sports, Santa Cruz High has had a legacy of prep hoops success, especially under Pete Newell Jr. There certainly are sports fans in town, and the lack of fervor for intercollegiate sports at UCSC could play into the franchise’s favor since there’s little competition nearby. There is the usual California issue of having other entertainment alternatives, but Santa Cruz’s relative isolation and the D-League’s winter schedule may help attract interest.
The City has a limited number of sports facilities, none that could properly house the relocated Wizards. High school gyms and the gym at Cabrillo College are out of the question. The Santa Cruz Civic Auditorium is a nice, WWII-era arena with a basketball floor, but its hoops capacity is only 1,000 or so, making it far too small for what the W’s are looking for. UC Santa Cruz’s West Fieldhouse has room for about 500 spectators and would be a parking nightmare. The City has very little available land upon which an arena of any size could be built. That means the W’s and the City need to be creative, and that’s where it gets interesting.
According to the Santa Cruz Sentinel, both parties are looking at a parking lot at the fringe of downtown, at the corner of Front Street and Laurel Street Extension. Location-wise, it’s at the foot of Beach Hill in a sort of commercial no-man’s land, two blocks from the City’s transit center. The lot is owned by the Seaside Company, operator of the Beach Boardwalk and owner of just about everything in and around the tourist attraction. Currently the roughly one acre lot is used for Boardwalk employee parking, and while the Boardwalk is open all year round, it’s much more a summer destination than anything else. That creates an opening for a land lease, where the Seaside Company makes money off its little-used property while the City gets new downtown visitors. Seaside could also use the space as a small convention facility, as the only one it controls is the 20,000-square foot Cocoanut Grove.
$2.5 million is being discussed as a budget for the facility, which would be paid upfront by the City and half-reimbursed by the W’s. Revenues from holding the games would presumably pay off the City’s half over time. That budget is pretty small for what would ostensibly be a 3,200-seat arena. Cost savings would be achieved by building a large, one-acre tent. Comparisons are being made to the tents Cirque du Soleil uses for its touring shows, but I think a better example is the $6 million South Hall of the San Jose Convention Center. At 80,000 square feet, the South Hall is more than twice the size the W’s are looking for. The lot’s irregularly shape could hold a 185′ x 185′ footprint, which is enough to build an arena with three full courts, plus space on the floor for 20-row telescoping seating platforms on the sidelines and some retractable bleachers along the baselines. Concessions and restrooms would have to be placed in the corners or along the ends. Locker rooms may have to be in an outbuilding of some sort if they couldn’t be fit within the arena footprint. Update: Outbuildings it is.
San Jose Convention Center South Hall
W’s VP Jim Weyermann, formerly of the San Jose Giants, said that the facility would have hard walls, so it may look similar to the picture above. If you look closely, you’ll see that the tent itself is anchored to a raised concrete foundation on the sides, a technique that could also be applied to a Santa Cruz tent arena. The problem with this kind of structure is that it’s meant to be temporary, with a roof lifespan of 10 years. If the team proves popular, the City and W’s are guaranteed to have another major expenditure down the road for either a new structure or a replacement facility. On the other hand, D-League franchises are not the most stable form of pro sports ownership. The W’s could decide at any time to suspend operation of the team or fold it altogether. Last season the Utah Jazz folded its D-League affiliate, making 15 teams that have folded in the decade-plus the league has been in operation. The Los Angeles Lakers suspended their affiliate for the 2010-11 season, then this season had the affiliate play its home games at the Lakers’ training facility in El Segundo to cut costs. There is risk for both parties regardless of the expenditure. At least with an initial outlay of $2.5 million, it isn’t something that will cripple the City. It’s not much different than the economic realities for other minor league sports. Potential exists for the arena’s use as a concert venue, though the tent structure can’t be as good at containing noise as thick concrete walls.
The D-League’s season is normally 50 games long, running from mid-November to early April. Playoffs consist of eight teams playing in up to three rounds of a best-of-three series format. Not coincidentally, this announcement was made after the Wizards’ last home game on Tuesday. Plans for the tent arena may have the team in Santa Cruz as early as this November. I’m not clear on how permitting works for something like this, but this is Santa Cruz, so you can expect the plans to get a healthy amount of scrutiny. I wouldn’t bet on Weyermann and the W’s to be able to pull off a deal like this and construct the facility by November, but if they can, more power to them. I’ll definitely hit a few games here and there.
The City of Sacramento and Mayor Kevin Johnson have two big problems. And they’re both named Maloof.
Sacramento’s City Council approved a $200,000 expenditure for pre-development (EIR/Study) work last night, thanks to the money being fronted by the NBA, not Kings owners Joe and Gavin Maloof. Even though the Maloofs agreed to splitting the projected $13 million in pre-dev work weeks ago, they are now balking because they consider themselves tenants and not true stakeholders in the project.
That’s not a good start, whether the Maloofs truly feel that way or are merely exhibiting brinksmanship. The Bee’s Marcos Breton lays out the case for not trusting the Maloofs. All of that goodwill from the February negotiations is quickly ebbing now that the various stakeholders have to commit, and the Maloofs have to actually put up some money. You can’t blame the City, who is doing what they can even if the financing piece is suspect. AEG has their role carved out. Speaking of AEG, they are due to have the EIR for the LA Convention Center project (which may or may not have a football stadium attached) released tomorrow. The document(s) will run 10,000 pages. The cost to complete it and other pre-dev work: $27 million. Now that’s commitment. If the Maloofs wanted to run the arena themselves and not have a third party like AEG involved, they should’ve negotiated that in the first place. We know that their problem is that they don’t have the cash to make such an investment ($138 million when including both their piece and AEG’s). Now it appears that Commissioner David Stern dragged them to the table, kicking and screaming.
Stern doesn’t have the power of an antitrust exemption at his disposal, so he can’t exactly keep the Maloofs from being uncooperative, and if the Kings wanted to move it’s merely a matter of procedure and cash. When news of the arena deal broke, I characterized the plan as fragile, and this is a big reason why. The Maloofs think that the City can’t get the arena built in time for the 2015 NBA season, and they’re already backing away as they’ve done before. The City and its backers are accusing ownership of sabotaging the process. There is a movement to subject the arena plan to a referendum. Financing remains a huge question mark. The various parties haven’t even started the grind of the environmental study, and this is the state of affairs? Forgive me for not having a lot of confidence in the project.
My brothers flew in for the weekend on Friday. There was a bachelor party, several excellent meals, immense fun ensued. I had the task of getting everyone everywhere on time, which I did. Included in that work was my having to pick up one brother at OAK at 2, then the other brother at SFO at 5. Fun, right? On Sunday one of them left, and today I drove the other back up to Oakland, where he was taking a cheap flight on Allegiant Air to Phoenix/Mesa.
Around the time we were packed and got on the road, a gunman entered a classroom at Oikos University near the Oakland Airport. The man, One Goh, is a 43-year-old former nursing student at the small, Christian school catering to the Korean-American community. As we neared the airport, we were listening to podcasts and The Game, so we had no idea what was happening as we approached. Seeing that we had some time before my brother’s flight, we took a detour to Nation’s in San Leandro for a burger and fries. Still, we had no clue what was going on until I pulled out my phone and started checking Twitter. There were several tweets about a gunman and lockdown, but little concrete information as the situation was evolving.
Eventually, Goh surrendered in Alameda after killing seven and wounding several others at the school. At no point were my brother or I in danger, yet I couldn’t help but have a strange feeling about what happened. After I dropped him off, I noticed a helicopter circling above the vicinity of the crime scene. I figured I should listen to the news to find out what happened. The feeling didn’t subside, and then I realized why: I’ve been through this before.
Most of my childhood was spent in Sunnyvale. It’s well known as a fairly sedate city, one of the safest of its size in the country. It’s also where one of the Bay Area’s most shocking mass murders occurred 24 years ago. On February 16, 1988, former ESL employee Richard Farley entered his former office with numerous guns, looking for a woman he was stalking. He shot and wounded her and killed seven others. He stopped when he requested a sandwich and drink from a sandwich shop kitty corner from the office. That sandwich shop was a Togo’s, where my twin brother (the bachelor party celebrant) worked a year later. For some time a few employees at the Togo’s coined the sandwich, a #9 hot pastrami, a “Shooter Special”. The shootings occurred a few miles from my junior high, and an even shorter distance from my younger brother’s elementary school.
In the summer of 1993, I was renting a townhouse with some college friends in Capitola. We frequently went to the beach, mixed up lots of bad drinks, and had little to worry about. Then, late on July 1, I got a call from a girl I was seeing at the time. She was back home in SF, and she was planning to come down for the 4th. Her voice was low and I sensed something was wrong, so I asked what was happening. It turned out that where her dad worked, 101 California Street, a gunman entered a law firm in the building and killed eight, then himself. My girlfriend’s dad was unharmed, but the ordeal and evacuation was very tense. I don’t know if she was looking for me to tell her that everything would be okay, and I distinctly remember being very silent and not knowing what to say. I felt that in 1988, and I felt it again on Monday. For what can you say about such senseless acts? About men who take being disgruntled to incomprehensibly lethal obsession? I just looked at the CNN homepage, and while the Oikos tragedy would’ve been the lead story a generation ago, it’s relegated to the sidebar, clearly not as important as the umpteenth GOP primary or further dissection of the Trayvon Martin killing.
Trib columnist Tammerlin Drummond laments the university and Oakland, which has now tallied its 34th homicide just 93 days into the calendar year. While Drummond makes clear that what happened Monday was an isolated incident and not part of Oakland’s normal cycle of violence, she admits that it will get thrown into the mix regardless, which is terrible for everyone due to the feeling of desensitization to Oakland’s plight. Drummond even brings up the possibility that the Oikos killings will cast a shadow over the Coliseum City project. That may or may not be true, but as I’ve noticed, these incidents can and often do happen in the safest and most unexpected places.
I wish I had something better to say. At this point in my life, I doubt I ever will. Well, there’s this: many of those killed were nursing students. The brother I dropped off on Monday, Chris, will be a nurse in two years. My twin brother, Caesar, is an occupational therapist. My cousin, Debbie, is finishing her nursing program. I am so proud of them for dedicating their lives to helping people. It doesn’t get acknowledged enough. I am so sad for the victims and their families, not just because of their personal loss, but also because it deprives the world of people who willingly dedicate themselves to help others. We need that as much as anything these days.
The NBA is stepping in to pay $3.25 million in predevelopment costs on the Sacramento ESC project after the Maloofs refused, saying that they shouldn’t have to pay since they’re tenants. It sure sounds like the Maloofs don’t see themselves as stakeholders in the arena, which is a bad sign. Everyone should be rowing in one direction. A group has organized to force the plan to a vote.
AEG’s downtown LA stadium plan seems to be stalled, as the company and the NFL can’t agree on terms for what AEG’s contribution and minority share should be. Now that the Dodgers ownership saga is ending, there are renewed calls for a stadium in Chavez Ravine, either to sit next to or replace Dodger Stadium.
The Giants unveiled several improvements to AT&T Park. The big changes are the new sponsor for the mezzanine club level, Virgin America, and the transformation of one of the field boxes down the first base line into the “Corona Beach Bar”, complete with sand. The narrow bridge on the promenade level next to the Fan Lot will finally be expanded. In addition, concession carts on the promenade level will be moved to the back walls, which will open up views of the field from the concourse.
Peter Guber, Warriors co-owner, may end up partnering with the Giants on an arena in SF, while the Giants compete with Guber’s Dodgers.
Ray Ratto gives his thoughts on what the Dodgers sale might mean for the Giants and A’s.
The Atlantic compares two cities, Denver and Phoenix, and how building ballparks has impacted their respective downtowns. (thanks hecanfoos)
Defying convention, the Census Bureau lists the three most densely populated areas in the U.S. as #1 Los Angeles, #2 San Francisco/Oakland, and #3 San Jose. There are flaws in the methodology, in that #5 New York City includes all of the suburbs in New Jersey and Connecticut, but SF/OAK doesn’t include the 680 corridor or any of the North Bay besides parts of Marin County. History and trends have largely defined the specific urbanized areas the Census uses in its surveys.
Memphis Grizzlies owner Michael Heisley will not sell the team to Larry Ellison because of Ellison’s continued interest in moving the team to San Jose. From the article:
Heisley is asking $350 million for the Grizzlies and says he makes it clear with potential buyers that the team’s arena lease with the city and county is rigid. There are several clauses and financial penalties that make it a daunting task to move the Grizzlies before 2021.
The NY Post’s Peter Vecsey reports that David Stern was in SF “inspecting building plans and the site” for an arena across from AT&T Park. He also notes that Larry Ellison was not daunted by the cost to break the FedEx Forum lease, though that’s not exactly easy to prove or disprove.
More as it comes. Probably no new posts until Monday at the earliest unless big news breaks.
Matier and Ross lifted the covers on a potential conflict of interest within the Coliseum Authority in today’s Chronicle. According to the report, a campaign for a cigarette tax headed by former State Senate President and recent Oakland mayoral candidate Don Perata paid $37,500 to Oakland City Councilman Ignacio De La Fuente. IDLF would then rally support for the initiative, Proposition 29, on this June’s ballot.
The conflict of interest could come from both men’s roles in relation to the Coliseum Authority. IDLF is on the Authority board, which will decide on a vendor for a new 10-year management contract for the complex. Perata is a lobbyist for SMG, the incumbent operator and one of three bidders for the next contract.
Naturally, both Perata and protege De La Fuente deny that there’s any conflict. Whether you think that these types of transactions can be properly siloed or were done deliberately to hide the details from the public, it looks at least a little suspect. Both pols are grizzled veterans and have been associated with shady Oakland dealings in the past including the Mt. Davis deal, so it’s not as if there’s no history there. To keep things from blowing up, it would be best if IDLF recused himself from voting on the matter. Or he could return that money.
A contract to manage the Coliseum complex is peanuts compared to the potential of Coliseum City. If there’s something to this conflict of interest allegation, god knows how corrupt the Coliseum City deal could be.
While my team was coming up short in bar trivia last night, news came over the wire that the group headed by Magic Johnson, Stan Kasten, and Peter Guber (yes, that Peter Guber) won the extremely competitive bidding for the Dodgers with a $2.15 billion offer. As recently as last week, the Dodgers were going to be sold for $1.4-1.6 billion, and New York hedge fund magnate Stephen Cohen seemed to have taken the lead thanks to having more cash in the bid compared to the Johnson-Kasten’s larger overall offer. The facts of the sale have been trickling out throughout the morning, and the details couldn’t have been more surprising.
The $2.15 billion bid is in two parts: $2 billion for the team and stadium, and $150 million for the parking lots through a joint venture with outgoing owner Frank McCourt.
Despite McCourt’s bankruptcy foibles, he’ll end up clearing around $1 billion in profit after dealing with creditors, including his ex-wife. In 2004, McCourt bought the Dodgers from Fox for $430 million, not putting up any cash to do so. Plus he gets the parking vig.
The bid appears to be ALL CASH. If so that’s incredibly impressive and has major implications down the road.
Johnson and Kasten had six private investment firms come in to bid for the right to claim the majority share. The winner was Guggenheim Partners, a Chicago/New York firm that manages $127 billion in assets. As part of the deal, the control person or managing partner will be Guggenheim CEO Mark Walter. The new entity that owns the team will be called Guggenheim Baseball Partners.
For now it appears that nothing will change day-to-day in the Dodger front office. That means that Ned Colletti stays put as GM, though Stan Kasten will slide in above him as President and Magic Johnson will probably have an Executive VP role, similar to the one he had with the Lakers. Keep in mind that while Kasten oversaw much of the Atlanta Braves’ successful run throughout the 90’s and early 00’s, he had John Schuerholz run the baseball side of the house.
There is potential in developing the parking lots, though everyone in the joint venture would have to sign off on any plans.
Local and national writers have run the gamut speculating what this new ownership group will do going forward. The first obvious step is to get some kind of new TV deal done, which McCourt tried to do under the gun but was blocked from doing by a bankruptcy court judge. The Dodgers could continue with Fox Sports for $200 million or start their own network. A Dodger network may be the best call, though ownership will most certainly run into some hard negotiations with Time Warner, LA’s predominant cable operator. Time Warner will operate the Lakers’ upcoming dual-channel, dual-language sports network, so there is built-in competition.
Ticket prices will also go up at some point, commensurate with rising payroll. For 2012 the active roster payroll is only $90 million, plus $11 million in deferments to Manny Ramirez and Andruw Jones. The Dodgers had been dropping ticket prices precipitously over the past year or two, allowing for a great amount of headroom for hikes when the time comes. That time may be next year, when the team has to make decisions on Andre Ethier and James Loney, while deciding what kind of extension to give Clayton Kershaw. Those three alone could translate to some $40 million per year in additional salaries. Even so, that only brings payroll to $130 million. The Dodgers could make one or two additional huge free agent splashes in the next 48 months, which is why the Giants have to be absolutely frightened.
From a macro perspective, every owner now has to be wondering what this clearly overpriced sale will mean for them. Sale prices have already been trending some 20% higher than Forbes valuations, so this only extends the bubble that’s been forming over the past five years. The bubble was created by great increases in media revenues, chiefly from new and often team-owned regional sports networks like YES and MASN. In response, several incumbent RSNs have overpaid to keep teams on their channels, such as the Fox Sports regionals in Dallas (Rangers) and Los Angeles (Angels). The table below shows franchise valuations and sale prices, in conjunction with relative values to generated revenue and the aggregate value of all franchises. Most franchises are in the 2.5-3 range. The Yankees sport a 4+ multiple, whereas the Dodgers nearly reach 9 – an artifact of how the Dodgers have been run lean while in bankruptcy. Have-not and small market teams have a multiple in the low 2 range.
Right-hand column shows franchise values as a function of revenue. If the Dodgers got a $200 million/year TV deal, their multiple would be in line with the Yankees'.
Higher valuations or potential sale prices doesn’t mean that there’s going to be a bunch of franchises for sale. For one, Commissioner Selig doesn’t want to have a “glut” of teams available since that will only decrease competition and deflate if not pop the bubble. We know that Padres and Orioles are available, even if they’re not being actively shopped at the moment. Maybe that will change now, with both current owners looking for $500+ million paydays. MLB can also draw out the sales process to unbearable lengths (see: Astros, Padres) while it completes its “due diligence” on any buyer. And if higher sales prices are being propelled by new media deals, teams in small markets aren’t necessarily going to receive huge valuation bumps if their TV deals aren’t bumped in accordance.
The A’s could see something of a bump, but how much is very unclear. They’re locked into CSN California for at least another decade. Since the terms aren’t public, we don’t know if moving to San Jose would provide a bump, but I have to think that it does simply from the much larger, healthier pool of available advertisers in the South Bay. When prospective buyers look at the books, they’ll know this going in or find out soon enough. Wolff and John Fisher aren’t going bankrupt anytime soon, so if they wanted to sell they could hold out for as high an offer as they wanted. In any case, Selig would probably dissuade Lew Wolff from even considering a sale, stalling while he “figures out” a solution. On the flip side, the Giants could actually harden their stance on territorial rights, saying that it’s their only way to compete with a soon-to-be mega money Dodger franchise. At the very least, the news should force the Giants to make a commitment to Matt Cain, since the Dodgers would be well-positioned in six months to blow the Giants out of the water with an offer. To that I have to say, Welcome to the club, Giants. Enjoy your stay.
…
OT Note: The second game of the season vs. the Mariners will be shown live on MLB Network, as MLB has been so magnanimous as to lift its blackout. Oh thank you, capricious TV gods. /s
What’s the pic? It’s a ramp leading to an underground service tunnel for the abandoned stadium next to ARCO Arena/Power Balance Pavilion. Overgrown with grass and trees, the foundation is practically invisible except for unfinished rebar columns sticking up from the concrete foundation.
Exposed rebar from the stadium's foundation is camouflaged by the environment. View from north, arena in background.
The arena and its stillborn brother would never have come to fruition without the vision of Gregg Lukenbill, a developer who lured the NBA’s Kansas City Kings from the Midwest in 1985 with promises of a new arena and a growing community. The Kings played in a converted office building (ARCO Arena I) for three seasons before moving to their “permanent” home in the largely undeveloped Natomas area north of downtown along I-5. Even as the money game of owning a franchise passed Lukenbill by, he remained a cheerleader of the city, as well as a critic of both Sacramento politics and the Maloofs.
View north from ramp outside arena's northwest entrance. More of the foundation is visible.
Lukenbill almost managed to lure teams from elsewhere in California as well. He lobbied hard to pull the Raiders from Los Angeles, as Al Davis entertained offers from numerous cities and played all of them off each other. The Sacramento Raiders plan would be based on a $120 million, 53,000-seat stadium next to ARCO Arena. Though it would’ve looked a lot like Anaheim Stadium in its football era, the stadium would’ve been different from either The Big A or Candlestick Park in that it would’ve been built first for football, and later baseball (43,000 capacity) if everything came together. The rising costs of competing in the major sports space eventually caught up with Lukenbill, who was not nearly as rich as many others entering the game, and tried to construct venues on the cheap – a practice that would become unsuitable once Camden Yards opened.
Model of a finished multipurpose stadium north of ARCO Arena
The big coup, though, would’ve been if Lukenbill had brought the Giants up I-80 to the Capitol. Bob Lurie’s ongoing dissatisfaction with The ‘Stick was well known, and Lukenbill was well poised to pounce on the opportunity. Just as the Giants are politically involved in the A’s stadium situation now, Lukenbill thrust himself into what the Giants were doing then by funding a mailer against Proposition P, the original China Basin ballpark plan championed by then-SF Mayor Art Agnos. Proposition P was defeated in 1989 in the wake of Loma Prieta, causing serious turmoil for the Giants over the next few years, while allowing San Jose and Santa Clara to enter the picture. Lukenbill was subpoenaed after the election, but nothing came of it.
Plans to bring the Giants (or any other baseball team) never gained much traction, and Davis turned his attention back to LA in short order. Still, it’s interesting to think about Sacramento having three major sports franchises in its midst: Kings, Raiders, Giants. Would Lurie or Davis have been satisfied with the stadium in the long run? Probably not. As the Kings, Giants, and others chose not to go to Sacramento, Lukenbill ran out of money and sold the arena to one of his co-owners and the Kings to Jim Thomas.
The greatest legacy of the failed stadium is a closed-off tunnel which leads north from the arena and connects the two. It’s only accessible from the bowels of the arena and has gotten some interesting uses over the years. It doesn’t quite have the flexibility of the Exhibit Hall setup at the Coliseum, yet it’s emblematic of Lukenbill’s vision: bold, big, and ultimately, unfinished.
newballpark.org 
