Category Archives: Coliseum

09.26.13
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Wolff clarifies what he wants out of Coliseum lease

In a wide-ranging interview with MLB.com’s Barry M. Bloom, Lew Wolff talked about the lease terms he proposed to the Coliseum JPA, and the progress that has been made so far. Some key items:

“We’re willing to sign a five-year lease with three one-year [club] options at a much higher rate than we’re paying now,” Wolff told MLB.com during a lengthy interview this week as his A’s played the Angels at Angel Stadium.

“But more importantly, we’re willing to pay more than we have the last five years, only because they need money to buy a new scoreboard and fix up the facility. And we’re willing to offer that money up front. It’s a negotiation that’s hopefully coming to a close soon. The delay on a decision about moving has even limited those options.”

This reminds me of the deal Wolff proposed to fix up Phoenix Municipal Stadium a few years ago. In the end the City of Phoenix decided it couldn’t afford to spend anything on Phoenix Muni, which convinced Wolff that he needed to look elsewhere. When the Cubs planned to vacate Hohokam Stadium for their new complex on the west side of Mesa, there was suddenly an opening for the A’s, which Wolff took. I point this out to illustrate that negotiating parties can go in with the best intentions and sometimes it still doesn’t work out.

In Oakland there’s more at stake. If the A’s can’t work out a proper deal to stay at the Coliseum, it’s not as if they can move 4 miles away to another MLB-ready ballpark. Plus the Raiders have their own designs on the Coliseum complex, and it’s not clear how much the Raiders’ desires conflict with the A’s. Even with those conflicts, the JPA can’t be crazy enough to let the A’s walk away, right? Their biggest leverage is that the A’s don’t have anywhere else to go, not some competitive advantage. If this drags on through the offseason, it’ll be interesting to see if MLB thrusts itself into the talks.

Not that the two sides are entirely on the same page. Wolff wants an out if the Raiders commandeer the site for a new Coliseum. The JPA wants to lock the A’s in as long as possible. Contrast that with the Raiders, who want their own long lease, but because it’s forcing the JPA to make a bigger commitment, the JPA has been hesitant to finalize anything. Imagine if Wolff offered a long-term deal that competed with the Raiders’ offer. What would the JPA do? Would they be forced to choose one over the other?

For his part, Wolff has characterized the negotiations as anything but contentious, and close to completion. Yet I wouldn’t be surprised if this dragged on well into the fall, at which point a lot of people in and around baseball will start to get very nervous.

09.22.13
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Raiders unlikely to do Chargers 10/6 home game swap, could reschedule to Sunday Night or Monday

Word came yesterday that the Raiders and Chargers were probably not going to accommodate the A’s and MLB by facilitating a swap of divisional home games. The current schedule has the Chargers visiting Oakland on Sunday, October 6. That’s an off day during the planned ALDS, but the schedule is still tight because of the time required to do the baseball-to-football-to-baseball conversion.

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American League 2013 Postseason Schedule

Complicating matters is the still TBD seeding of the postseason. If the A’s clinch either the #1 or #2, they’ll open with two games at home (unlike last year) on October 4 & 5. If they get the #3 seed or win the wild card playoff, they’d get Games 3 & 4 at home on October 7 & 8. Until that’s determined, the Raiders and the Coliseum are in a tough spot because they don’t know when they’d have to build in the football seats or tear them back down for baseball.

Apparently the Raiders can opt to play the game the night of October 6, which would allow for some extra time to do the baseball-to-football switch (bet on a daytime A’s slot to help), or a move to October 7, which would work only if the A’s got the #1 or #2 seed. If the A’s clinched a lower seed they could do what was done last week, where a Sunday afternoon Raiders game was immediately followed by the conversion in time for a Monday night A’s game.

The Raiders have been earnest about wanting to sellout the entire season in the new, smaller capacity Coliseum, so they must feel that a swap could jeopardize sales. It would be even worse for the Chargers, who’d have to figure out how many remaining tickets would have to be sold to ensure that there isn’t a blackout for the moved up game. The Chargers are somewhat dependent on Raider fans invading the stadium to get the sellout.

There’s a little flexibility for the NFL, and even though they don’t have to grant any since MLB and the Orioles didn’t do the Ravens any favors for Week 1, it’s nice to see that the Raiders can make some changes to make the switch relatively painless. The condition of the field will be another story, as is always the case in September and October.

09.21.13
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SewageGate, Autumnal Equinox Edition

The Bay Area was hit with a deluge of rain before the scheduled start of the Twins-A’s game today, causing flooding in the dugouts and the A’s coaches’ offices. I brought the snark as usual.

For a more straight news take, BANG’s Laurence Miedema has compiled a bunch of tweets that cover the story and reaction from all over the internet.

[View the story “More plumbing problems for the Oakland A’s” on Storify]

With that, let’s hope there are no more sewage catastrophes today, this weekend, and the rest of the season.

09.20.13
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Olbermann and Justice give Wolff some good advice

Last night Keith Olbermann took Oakland and Alameda County to task over the continuing sewage problems at the Coliseum. Tonight was Lew Wolff’s turn to be flogged. The clip below is a segment featuring Olbermann and longtime national baseball writer Richard Justice, in which Justice chides Wolff for blaming fans for the A’s attendance woes.

Everything’s on point. Olbermann’s sympathetic to Wolff’s plight but doesn’t excuse him. Apparently, the lead-in to this segment was a much more thorough critique of Wolff. For whatever reason Olbermann’s producers chose to leave it out. The show is not available for streaming besides scattered Youtube clips like these.

It’s too bad. I would’ve liked to have seen KO’s take on this side of the matter, if only to serve as equal time.

Justice pointed out that Cleveland manager Terry Francona and some Indians players chose to take the high road regarding the Tribe’s woeful attendance figures. That’s not exactly the same as Larry Dolan or Mark Shapiro talking. Last week Shapiro had an interview with Crain’s Cleveland which was similar in tone to Wolff’s latest quotes. Shapiro blames some of the problems on Cleveland’s market size. Fans countered that the organization has done little to earn their faith. Obviously there’s a different dynamic at work in Cleveland compared to Oakland. Circumstances are very dissimilar except for attendance figures – and one other thing. Aside from the three straight World Series in the 70’s (which Olbermann notes were not well-attended), the A’s most successful era occurred after the Raiders moved to Los Angeles. The Indians greatest success in the last 50 years occurred after the Browns abandoned Cleveland for Baltimore. The Raiders were successful for a period when they returned, and have been mediocre in the decade since. The Browns have been the AFC North’s punching bag since they returned as an expansion team. Both affected baseball teams have been unable to repeat their respective successes since the football teams returned.

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I was able to watch the last airing of Olbermann for Thursday night/early Friday morning, and have seen the missing 10-minute show monologue. KO ripped Wolff, Horace Stoneham, Al Davis, the Coliseum’s sewage problem (yes, that again), Bo Pelini, Lee Elia, Craig Kilborn, and Olbermann himself for creating circumstances that lead to gaffes like Wolff’s. No, KO didn’t call for Wolff’s head. For your edification, I took a phone video of the segment (replete with poor audio, turn it all the way up) for you to view. If it gets taken down because of copyright/fair use issues, I’m sorry. Can’t do anything about that.

Note that Olbermann didn’t have any sort of solution, other than urging Wolff to not trash fans. Well, it’s nice for KO that he could jump from network to network and sue whenever he got petulant or bored. Wolff? MLB’s constitution doesn’t give him such latitude.

Someday we’re all gonna look back on all of this and laugh. Right?

09.17.13
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The incredible expanding Coliseum

Division Series tickets went on sale today at 10 AM. As the first two games started to sell out, I noticed something unusual about the seating map.

The Coliseum, now free of section numbers!

The Coliseum, now with no section numbers!

Unlike last year, the entire third deck appears to be available. Even Mt. Davis, which is usually grayed out, is colored brown as if it was for sale. Had the A’s finally changed their tune and opened the nosebleed seats to fans?

Well, yes and no. The original upper deck has been opened up, though the prices went from $15/$22 for the normal Value Deck (316/318, 317 is for media overflow) to $35 for the “new” sections. Standing room tickets are also available for $18. However, Mt. Davis will not be open, leaving the ALDS capacity at 48,146. That would place the Coliseum at the third highest capacity among postseason parks, short of Dodger Stadium (56,000) and Turner Field (49,586).

The A’s also announced that the first two decks are sold out for the series, implying that the only tickets remaining are the remaining original upper deck (300-315, 319-334). As of the time of this post, the oh-so-exclusive Loge Boxes are also for sale ($45), at least for games 1 and 2.

As for Mt. Davis, who knows? Maybe if the upper deck sells out in the next few days the dreaded upper upper deck will also open up.

I’m going to use the opening of the third deck to test a theory I have about crowd noise. Personally, I think the crowds for the 2012 ALDS and Games 160-162 were extremely loud because of a number of factors, including the smaller footprint of the crowd. We were packed into a much smaller space than for most previous postseason games, so the crowd noise had a concentrated effect – or so I thought. The same phenomenon happens in smaller arenas, including Oracle Arena, where the seating capacity is large but the building itself isn’t so voluminous.

To test my theory, I’m going to measure crowd noise on Thursday night. The crowd size will probably be similar to the sparse crowds seen for the Astros and Angels series, so it can serve as a baseline. During my conversation with A’s stadium operations veep David Rinetti, I asked him if I could roam around the Coli to get further readings. He told me to page him once I got in and that he’d help me out. I plan to take readings on Thursday, Saturday, and Sunday. Either of the weekend games could be a division clincher, so there’s potential for big crowd noise, plus Sunday is the final home game of the season. I also plan to do measurements during the Division Series (no, they haven’t clinched yet – knock on wood), though getting roaming access may prove more difficult than for this last homestand.

I look forward to seeing the big crowds and measuring the results. If you would like to chip in with your own measurements, you can download one of the many sound meter applications for your smartphone or bring your own sound meter if you have one. Some app examples:

  • SPL Graph (iOS, $9.99) – This one’s expensive but it provides excellent graphs and lots of controls, including recording capability. Worth it if you do this work a lot IMO.
  • Noise Meter (Android, free) – Easily toggles between graph and dB display mode. Incredibly easy to use.
  • Decibel 10th (iOS, free) – Also easy to use, not very granular or customizable.

We can go over methodology if anyone’s interested. I’ll do a writeup over the weekend explaining how I gather the data. Hooray for big crowds, huzzah for no tarps!

09.16.13
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A’s to implement walkthrough metal detectors starting Thursday (updated 9/17)

Update 9/17 3:45 PM – David Rinetti gave me a call today to straighten out some of the misconceptions about the metal detectors.

  1. There is a league-wide mandate, but it doesn’t call for a specific type of detector. The only requirement is that each park use some sort of metal detector.
  2. The A’s are using the last 4-game homestand as a trial run before the postseason. Ongoing training is happening prior to Thursday.
  3. Walkthrough detectors are being used because they’re already in place at both the stadium and arena, and because they’re faster than wands (which are more prone to human error and slowdowns).
  4. The policy regarding allowed and banned items has not changed.

I pointed out that the press release was perhaps worded in such a way that it could be misinterpreted that the walkthrough detector was mandatory. Hopefully this will clear up some of the confusion.

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Surprise press release from the A’s today:

A’s to Use New Security Procedures for Remaining Home Games, Starting Thursday

Team Adheres to MLB League-Wide Mandate in Using Metal Detectors

Adhering to a new Major League Baseball league-wide mandate, the Oakland A’s will begin using a walk-through metal detection system for fans entering O.co Coliseum for all remaining home games beginning Thursday night when the team hosts Minnesota at 7:05 p.m. MLB teams will implement a similar league-wide system that is currently in place for all NFL and NBA teams.

The A’s recommend that ticket holders enter O.co Coliseum when stadium gates first open to allow ample time for this new security procedure. Gates will open at 5:35 p.m. Thursday, 4:30 p.m. Friday, and 11:05 a.m. on both Saturday and Sunday.

Similar to airport security, fans will have their bags searched and will need to empty pockets of keys, cell phones and other items before walking through a metal detector. The A’s have not changed any of their current policies on carry-in items, as referenced in the “A-Z Guide” on the A’s web site, http://www.oaklandathletics.com. However, it is suggested that fans minimize the amount of items they bring to the ballpark.

This new procedure will continue through any potential 2013 post-season games, and for all future regular season games.

I’m not quite sure this is happening in the middle of the homestand as opposed to today, especially considering the fact that the metal detectors were already in place for the Raiders game yesterday. In any case, it’s a major inconvenience that, unfortunately, was completely inevitable. Many ballparks – though not the Coliseum – have already started using metal detector wands. Starting Thursday, plan to get to the Coliseum 15-30 minutes earlier than usual to accommodate the extra screening time. I’ll be back from Anaheim on Thursday, so I’ll get the metal detector the first game back.

On a related note, I recall that the two New York ballparks and Atlanta’s Turner Field used wand metal detectors at the gates. Seattle, Milwaukee, and the Chicago parks did not. I suppose it’s convenient for MLB that the infrastructure is already in place at the Coliseum, because if the league wanted to use walkthroughs instead of wands at all 30 parks, the Coliseum could serve as a trial balloon. How’s that for trailblazing?

09.15.13
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Mayor Quan shows up late to Raiders/NFL presentation

According to Matier & Ross, Mark Davis and the NFL held a meeting last week with East Bay pols to talk new stadium. Apparently things got off on the wrong foot when Oakland Mayor Jean Quan showed up late.

People at the meeting – none of whom would speak on the record, because the session was supposed to be private – say their efforts to convince the NFL that there’s still hope in the East Bay weren’t boosted by the tardy entrance of Oakland Mayor Jean Quan.

‘She arrived 20 minutes late,’ said our attendee. ‘he apologized, saying she was held up by a phone call.’

M & R also pointed out the elephant in the room, the lack of funds on either side, and the political reality surrounding the potential for public funds.

And while no one said it at the meeting, everyone knows the chances of voters helping out with a new stadium deal – while they are still paying off $20 million a year for the 1990s renovation of the old one – are slim to none.

Ah, maybe the pols can keep repeating the “no vote needed” mantra. Because that’s helpful.

I don’t know if Mark Davis and Lew Wolff have ever talked about their respective stadium issues. They both live in LA, so they could have lunch without Bay Area gadflies noticing if they wanted to. Even if they haven’t, Davis is doing Wolff a favor by forcing the issue with Oakland and Alameda County. By getting the public side to start moving, we’re finally seeing their level of commitment to the Raiders, and downstream to the A’s. As far as Mayor Quan goes, it’s at best token effort, which is what we’ve come to expect.

09.09.13
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Coliseum/Airport BART Station to be renamed

The Merc’s Mike Rosenberg reported today that BART station we all know and love (and some outsiders fear) servicing the Oakland Coliseum will be renamed.

Why? It has to do with the Oakland Airport Connector, the 3.2-mile, $484 million people mover which is scheduled to open in fall 2014. You’ve probably seen construction of the OAC’s metal guideway along Hegenberger, or the terminal just across the street from the BART platform.

Route from Oakland International Airport to the Coliseum

In order to avoid confusion among air travelers, the BART station will simply be named “Coliseum” while the OAC station at the Airport end will be named “Airport“. BART Train operators have long had the practice of announcing the transfer method to the airport when approaching the stop. Expect that practice to continue with a longer explanation (no, the airport didn’t disappear!).

On the other hand, the OAC will not have train operators at all. It uses automated people mover technology, similar to SFO’s AirTrain or driverless shuttles at other airports (Denver, Atlanta, Tampa, New York JFK). The technology comes from Austrian firm Dopplmayr. In Australia I rode the Katoomba Scenic Railway, a cable car funicular that’s one of the steepest in the world. It’s also a Dopplmayr installation.

Like the recently opened Airtrain JFK, the OAC (a brand has not been announced yet) will require a fee, just like its AirBART bus predecessor. BART estimates that the fare could be up to $6 each way, twice as much as the old bus. By comparison, AirTrain JFK costs $5 and runs a longer route, 8 miles to the Jamaica transit hub in Queens.

OAC-1-Airport

Airport Terminal Station of the Oakland Airport Connector

OAC was highly controversial at its inception because of its high cost and limited usage, but the argument that it was better to have a more efficient route not tied to surface traffic won out. Hopefully the fares will be able to cover operating costs.

Besides the Coliseum and Airport terminals, a third station is under construction at Doolittle. A fourth station at Hegenberger and Coliseum Way was considered at one point, but was slashed due to cost. Given the high fare that’s probably a smart move, though it’s also something of a lost opportunity should Coliseum City come to fruition.

09.03.13
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Postseason Coliseum scheduling conflicts mostly averted

MLB announced its schedule for the 2013 postseason today. For the most part it’s a very tidy package, further proof that it’s better for the league to start a little early, around April 1-2, instead of April 6-7. There are always tradeoffs, such as the increased possibility of weather postponements in the spring, but overall it’s better than having the postseason extend into November. As currently formatted, the seventh game of the World Series would occur on Halloween night.

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American League 2013 Postseason Schedule

The National League will get things started on October 1st with their Wild Card Game. The next day will feature the American League Wild Card game. Friday, 10/4 will kick off the AL Division Series, followed a week later by the Championship Series. October 23 is the date of the first World Series game. Remember that by virtue of the American League’s All Star Game victory, the AL representative has home field advantage, including Games 1, 2, 6, and 7 (if necessary).

Since the A’s are the only team in contention that has to worry about scheduling conflicts with a football team, naturally there was concern when the Raiders’ schedule was released earlier in the year. For the most part, the concerns have subsided. The Raiders have home games against the Chargers on 10/6, an off day during the ALDS. Assuming that the A’s make it to the ALDS, there will be a conflict of sorts in that the Coliseum’s grounds crew will have a very tight timeframe to convert the Coliseum from football to baseball (or vice-versa). Normally the conversion takes 36-48 hours. In this case, there will be 18-20 hours tops. It should be a very good demonstration of how bad the situation is for both the A’s and Raiders.

Update 6 PM – The Chronicle’s Susan Slusser notes that because the 10/6 game is between division rivals, the dates could be swapped with the game in San Diego happening first.

The Raiders also have a home game vs. the Steelers on the 27th, but that’s during the three-game middle section of the World Series scheduled for the National League park, so there’s no conflict there. The previous week is a scheduled bye week. Including the just completed NFL preseason, there will be five baseball-to-football-to-baseball conversions in a matter of three months, plus the final conversion to the football configuration for the completion of the Raiders’ regular season. Could’ve been worse.

08.24.13
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Kawakami interviews Mark Davis about Coliseum plans

Say what you will about Tim Kawakami, but he’s the only local columnist talking Raiders’ (and Warriors’) stadium issues. He got a little time in with Raiders owner Mark Davis, who didn’t crack. Davis did, however, reveal some of his motivations for moving the way he has.

Davis continues to not consider Santa Clara as an option after 2013. He said that the team is still only talking to the JPA (Coliseum Authority) about a lease extension, with no actual negotiation yet on a long-term deal – which he prefers. Asked why he prefers a long-term deal, he replied:

(A short-term extension) doesn’t seem to be something that I want to do. I don’t see where that does any good.

If you go back and look at when we did the three-year extension last time, and you look at the quotes from the politicians and the people around, they said, ‘Great, now we’ve got an opportunity to work on a long-term deal with the Raiders.’

If we do it again, then it’s, ‘Great, now we’ve got a long time to work on a long-term deal with the Raiders.’ I think we’ve got to get a little more urgency about it.

Pretty subtle dig at the JPA and Oakland/Alameda County pols there. It’s a good move for Davis strategically, since it will eventually force the JPA to make commitments to a timeline and some minimal level of funding if they really want to keep the Raiders in town. If they’re reticent to make a deal, Davis can turn to Roger Goodell and say, See, I tried. Davis certainly sounds sincere about his stance, though it would be crazy if he didn’t take calls from interested municipalities. He also revealed that he was able to buy out a minority partner, bringing the family’s share of the team to above 50%.

Kawakami brought up Cal’s Memorial Stadium as a temporary venue option. Davis didn’t discount the possibility, but his response showed that he hadn’t considered it much either:

Sure. I mean, if they’d want us. We’ve done it before. There’s some… things about Berkeley that wouldn’t be optimal–the parking and all of that stuff is always tough.

But at the same time, if it’s (there’s a need to play elsewhere for a while) for a new stadium… and we like Berkeley. I think what they’ve done with the new stadium is great.

The issue at Memorial Stadium is a legal one. Neighbors who fought the stadium renovation project hard got a settlement in 2010 that placed a cap on the number of high-capacity events at the stadium and prohibited NFL games as well.

Contrast the Davis’s and Wolff’s positions on lease extensions at the Coliseum. Davis wants a long-term deal that includes a replacement Coliseum with untold amounts of public and private money. Wolff prefers a five-year, short-term extension that allows him to build a privately-funded stadium in San Jose. Neither owner has lashed out at the other or the team, instead calling the shared-stadium situation something their respective teams have to suffer through.

At the moment it doesn’t look like the two teams’ extension will be wrapped up before the end of the baseball season, at the very least. That will only put more pressure on the JPA to make commitments. The timeline will also coincide with a building Oakland mayoral race, which has gone from having few challengers to incumbent Jean Quan to several. It’ll be interesting to see how the sports teams are treated and cited on the campaign trail. Sports may be the one of the highest profile things about the City, but it’s also one of the trickiest to manage.