Latest news with #OaklandBallers
Forbes
27-05-2025
- Business
- Forbes
Celebrities And Community Rally Around Oakland Ballers Baseball Team
"Oakland Will Never Quit" banner hangs on a fence during Oakland Ballers' inaugural home opener ... More against YOLO High Wheelers at Raimondi Park in Oakland, Calif. (Photo by Scott Strazzante/San Francisco Chronicle via Getty Images) With three major sports league franchises leaving Oakland, the Pioneer League's Oakland Ballers are receiving financial support from thousands in the community, as well as endorsements from big-name celebrities. Oakland once hosted the NFL's Oakland Raiders, the NBA's Golden State Warriors, and the MLB's Oakland Athletics. With the Warriors moving across the bay to San Francisco, as well as the Raiders, and eventually the A's relocating to Las Vegas, Oakland, once a hotbed of sports activity, has seemed abandoned. Out of this vacuum, the Oakland Ballers are demonstrating that there is – and always has been – a passionate fan base. Notably, the Ballers have prioritized repairing the relationship between fans and sports teams in Oakland. To do that, they have used community investment a cornerstone which allows the fans to have a 'social contract' with the club that provides checks and balances around moving the team, changing team logos or brand marks, and making some key front office hiring positions by having a fan representative on the board of the club. The concept of community investment has struck a chord with the community, with celebrities ranging from Billie Joe Armstrong of Green Day, hip-hop star Too $hort, rapper Jwalt, former NBA player Antonio Davis, actors Blair Underwood and Alex Winter, Olympic swimmer Natalie Coughlin, MLB players Chase and Travis d'Arnaud and more, jumping in and making investments. A total of 4,200 investors have become involved in the Ballers, with the first round garnering $1.234 million, and a second round that recently closed, netting $1.962 million. The average investment was $649.26, with representation across 740 zip codes. The most significant investment was $50,000. 'It's been humbling. We're at the point where if we just invited investors to a game, it would be a sellout,' said Paul Freedman, CEO and Co-Founder of the Ballers. 'So, for a community team like ours to have such a level of support -- not just in Oakland, not just in California, but across the nation and around the globe -- it's amazing.' Freedman said that the goal with the investment capital is to break even this year, with the next year and beyond being a profitable, sustaining, and enduring organization. 'We want to be open forever,' he said. How that fan model will be manifested is the core of how the Ballers are run. After decades of major sports leagues leaving on what may best be described as bad terms, the Ballers are going in the opposite direction. 'Our model is based on radical participation from the fans at every aspect of the organization,' said Bryan Carmel, Co-Founder and Chief Experience Officer of the Ballers. 'That means that from when we came up with the idea to start a new team in Oakland, in the first place, we engaged community stakeholders long before we announced the team, even in terms of where we are going to play? What should the branding be? What should the values be of the team? What's important to you, the fan base? Our fundamental idea is that the real value of a sports team lies in its fans. Like that is the product. We want to change the model for how fans and teams can build value together.' The viral nature of community investment has reached celebrities with ties to Oakland, the Bay Area, and beyond. 'Sports in the Bay Area have been transforming over the last couple of years,' said Billie Joe Armstrong, guitarist and frontman for the band Green Day. 'We've had some emotional goodbyes to teams we grew up with, but recently, there has been a major shift. The Oakland Ballers and the Oakland Roots & Soul represent everything I love and grew up on in the Bay Area. The welcoming atmosphere, DIY attitude and the people behind it make me proud to be an investor and support the next generation of teams kids in the bay will be proud of.' Blair Underwood, the Emmy and Grammy-winning star who has been a staple in Hollywood for years, has jumped on board with Ballers. In between voice work for Lexus, where he's the focus of the luxury car's 'The Standard of Amazing' ad campaign, he spoke to me in an exclusive interview for Forbes about what investing in the Ballers is all about. Underwood said he became aware of the Ballers through a business partner involved in nonprofits and foundational pieces, Alameda Foster Care. When he mentioned the Ballers, what with the Raiders, Warriors, and A's leaving Oakland, Underwood was intrigued. 'I was just very, very excited about [what the Ballers represented],' Underwood said. 'And then, the other aspect I love about it is the fact that it is a fan-based, community-based opportunity to have ownership in the team. One of the fans is a member on the board, so there's a direct link – direct access to the fan base and the decision-making that's going on. So, I was really intrigued and enthralled by that whole business model of community-based investment, and also that there was such a need. And that you put those two together, you feel the need to fill the void with something that's viable and exciting to that community. And, the community can actually have a say and a financial interest in that investment. It just made sense, and I just got excited about being a part of it.' The Oakland Ballers have just started their second season in Oakland. If there's anything to learn, it's that sports can thrive without the underpinnings of big business, where the fans are at the forefront.
Yahoo
25-05-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Trees vandalized outside West Oakland ballpark
(KRON) — Multiple trees were recently vandalized outside Raimondi Park in West Oakland, the home of the Oakland Ballers baseball team. One tree was ripped out at the roots and thrown on the ground. Another was cut in half, local resident Deepak Jagannath told KRON4. 'I was pretty upset because we need a lot of tree cover in West Oakland,' Jagannath said. 'One of the trees was snapped in half.' Nine rescued from sinking boat in San Francisco Bay Watch KRON4 reporter Jack Molmud's full report in the video above. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
CBS News
21-05-2025
- Sport
- CBS News
Fans pack Raimondi Park for Oakland Ballers' season opener
Oakland Ballers have season opener with thousands of fans in attendance Oakland Ballers have season opener with thousands of fans in attendance Oakland Ballers have season opener with thousands of fans in attendance Baseball is back in Oakland, even if it's not the Majors. The Oakland Ballers opened the season on Tuesday against the Ogden Raptors. Fans packed Raimondi Park for the first game, a sellout crowd. The Ballers increased the stadium's capacity from 4,000 to 4,100 so more people could attend the game. Drake Poplasky said the way this team interacts with the city of Oakland feels different than the way the Athletics did. "A team that feels like it wants to be here," said Poplasky. He said the team and its front office are investing and building in Oakland, something the A's ownership didn't do. "This field was used as a little league field not too long ago, and they had barely any structure for having fans and having viewing," said Poplasky as he looked over at the new Raimondi Park. It's been transformed into a professional baseball stadium that people want to visit, like local Tia Barnard. She lives just 10 minutes away and says West Oakland is evolving, and while it started to improve before the Ballers, the team and stadium amplify it. "It's also good to see more foot traffic, more people coming into the neighborhood," said Barnard. Barnard wore a t-shirt to the game with the A's logo crossed out and a B on top of the A. She said it represents the reality of baseball in Oakland. "Now that the A's are gone, this is what we have to bring baseball back to Oakland," explained Barnard. "I think it's incredibly sad. I'm glad this is here, but I think this should have been in addition to instead of a replacement for." Ballers co-founder, Bryan Carmel, says they are not trying to replace the As, or any other team but instead fulfill a need with something new. "Oakland lost three professional teams in about five years, and so for us it was just making sure there was a new chapter for baseball in Oakland," said Carmel. But for some of the youngest fans, like 9-year-old Evan Sanchez, they're not even thinking about the A's. "I just want to catch a foul ball," said Sanchez while holding up his glove. Poplasky went to seven games during the ballers first season, and he hopes to go to more this year. He said it's the people that come to the games that make it special. "We got opening day seats because this has just been a really good time," said Poplasky. "Great community."
CBS News
07-05-2025
- Business
- CBS News
Oakland Ballers sign lease 10 year lease to stay at Raimondi Park
The Oakland Ballers have signed a lease to play baseball at Raimondi Park for at least the next ten years. The team was launched in 2023 the same year the Oakland A's got the green light to move to Las Vegas. Since their founding the team's owners have said their plan was to stay in Oakland forever. The Ballers had a successful inaugural season last year, selling out the team's home opener and consistently drawing big crowds to its refurbished 4,000-seat ballpark in West Oakland's Raimondi Park. With this new lease team officials said they want to turn the area near the ballpark into a version of "Wrigleyville" in Chicago.
San Francisco Chronicle
06-05-2025
- Entertainment
- San Francisco Chronicle
Bay Area legend to shoot music video at Oakland Ballers game
Too Short is offering Bay Area fans the chance to be part of his musical legacy. The East Bay rap icon plans to perform and record a new music video at an Oakland Ballers game on May 22. The Ballers' field is more than just a local setting for Too Short — he invested in the team in March, along with Green Day frontman Billie Joe Armstrong and Emmy-winning actor Blair Underwood. Filming begins at 6 p.m., and the team's scheduled game against the Ogden Raptors is set to begin at 6:35 p.m. The first 500 fans to arrive will receive a limited edition commemorative cup. Tickets are on sale now. The Ballers are a new independent Pioneer League team and the East Bay's only professional baseball team since the departure of the Oakland A's last summer. Founded by Bryan Carmel, the former head of comedy at Fusion Media Group, and ed tech entrepreneur Paul Freedman, the privately owned club plays at West Oakland's Raimondi Park, which can accommodate 4,000 fans. 'If I can't brag on a big-league franchise I can brag on being a Baller,' he told the Hollywood Reporter, making a dig at the A's, who have temporarily moved to Sacramento where they'll play the next three seasons before permanently moving to Nevada. 'Oakland is the connection, it's the diverse city of all walks of life and cultures.' The rapper recently released his latest studio album, 'Sir Too Short Vol. 1 (Freaky Tales),' which includes features from Snoop Dogg, Larry June and King George. Its release came right before the Oakland-set film 'Freaky Tales,' which he narrated and helped to produce.
