The African American Sports & Entertainment Group (AASEG) announced today that it has agreed to an agreement to acquire 50% of the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum site from Coliseum Way Partners, an Athletics subsidiary, for $125MM. AASEG already has an agreement for the other 50%, so this will give them full ownership of the land when all is said and done. Approval by the Alameda County Board of Supervisors is still required. A press release was posted on X and MLB.com.
In 2019, CWP acquired an interest in the Alameda County portion of the Coliseum site for $85MM. Yes, a lot has changed since then. Talks about a new stadium to be built in Oakland eventually fell through, when a report in April 2023 revealed that the A's had purchased land in Las Vegas and were considering a relocation plan. A few months later, MLB owners approved the move to Nevada in November 2023.
There was still a chance for the A's to stay in Oakland for a while, as their Vegas stadium isn't ready until 2028. Their lease at the Coliseum runs through 2024 and they have had some discussions with the city of Oakland about staying. until 2027. During those negotiations, the city tried to acquire a portion of the club's property and have the A's pay to turn the facility into a ballpark for the United Soccer League's Oakland Roots SC Franchise. But the A's then announced in April that they would be moving to Sacramento for the 2025-27 season.
That left unresolved the issue of what the A's will do with their backlog. Back in February, it was reported that the club and AASEG had opened negotiations for a sale. According to a report at the time, AASEG also tried to buy the land the previous year but was refused. Last week, AASEG and the city of Oakland signed a term sheet that would see AASEG acquire a 50% stake in the city for $105MM. Now that they are willing to acquire another 50% from the A's, they will own the entire property for a total of $230MM.
“AASEG is grateful to have reached this historic agreement with the Oakland Athletics to purchase their interests in the Oakland Coliseum complex,” AASEG Executive Member Ray Bobbitt said in a press release. A's President Dave Kaval, Alameda County Supervisor Dave Haubert and Alameda County Board of Supervisors President Nate Miley also provided quotes supporting the project in the press release linked above.
CBS' Carlos Castañeda covered today's deal and provided some additional details about what's next for the Coliseum site. His piece notes that “AASEG is planning a $5 billion redevelopment project to include housing, a theater, restaurants and a new convention center.” He added that 25% of the houses built on this land must be affordable, according to the terms of the agreement between the city and AASEG.
OA will probably use cash to help with their relocation process. As of May, the club had received $380MM in government funding for the project, about a third of the estimated $1.1 billion. Reporting at the time indicated that the A's were looking to raise $500MM in private equity and may have been willing to offer minority ownership stakes in the franchise to encourage investment. Expected costs seem to have grown in the past few months, as Mick Akers of the Las Vegas Review-Journal wrote about the ongoing demolition of the Vegas site last week and calculated the target cost of the stadium at $ 1.5 billion. Akers added that the A's plan to make up the rest of the difference with $300MM in debt refinancing and $850MM in equity from the family of team owner John Fisher. Fisher's parents Don and Doris Fisher founded The Gap, a clothing chain, and Forbes estimated the family's net worth at $8.9 billion as of December 2020.
Maybe $125MM will help them balance the books there but they might have to make some improvements to Sacramento's Sutter Health Park to bring it more in line with MLB standards. It is currently home to the Sacramento River Cats, the Triple-A affiliate of the Giants, the A's are scheduled to play there for three major league seasons. Different groups are concerned that these facilities are of a lower standard than what was expected by the players in other big league balls and it is possible that the club will spend some money to repair them. Back in April, Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic spoke with current MLB players, including Cody Bellinger again Rhys Hoskinsabout some of the significant environmental challenges.
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