Go Back to Team Home Page

McAfee Coliseum
Oakland, CA

Today, with over 60,000 seats, McAfee Coliseum looks very different than when it opened. In the mid 1940’s Oakland officials first proposed that a new stadium be built in the area, to try to attract a baseball and football team. It was 1960 before a site was chosen to build the stadium on, near the C.W. Nimitz Freeway. Construction on the multipurpose stadium

Picture: Jerome Lieblich
Looking toward the playing field. Looking toward homeplate from the upper deck. Submitted by Barry Young. Looking down the right field line. Submitted by Barry Young. View from right field. Aerial of Network Associates Coliseum.

 

began in 1962. The stadium was constructed deep in the ground, allowing fans to enter on the upper deck level. The stadium was named Oakland Coliseum, and was completed in four years. The Oakland Raiders played the first game ever at the Oakland Coliseum on September 18, 1966. With the Oakland area already drawing good attendance with a Pacific Coast League team; Kansas City A’s owner Charlie Finley decided to move his baseball team to the Oakland area to play at the coliseum after the 1967 season. The team would be called the Oakland Athletics.

Opening day came on April 17, 1968, when 50,219 fans packed the three tiered stadium. Built in a circular shape, many of the seats stretched from foul pole to foul pole, with bleachers beyond the outfield fence. Two Diamond Vision video/scoreboards were located above both the left and right field bleachers. Few changes took place at the Oakland Coliseum over the years. The Raiders moved out of the coliseum in 1981, but when they moved back the coliseum changed dramatically. The coliseum remained an excellent place to watch a ballgame until 1995.

As part of an agreement, when the Raiders moved back to Oakland, the coliseum was remodeled. All of the outfield bleachers were removed. A four-tier section of 22,000 seats was built in place of them. All of the orange seats were replaced by new green seats. The video boards are now above the stadium rim down both the left and right field lines. The coliseum was renamed UMAX Coliseum in 1997, but was later renamed Network Associates Coliseum in 1998. After the 2004 season, the stadium was renamed again and is now known as McAfee Coliseum. Since 2000, the A's have been a very good team at the stadium winning several division championships and the wild card. During the past several seasons, the team has been able to draw over two million fans to McAfee Coliseum each season. Currently, the A’s are exploring options on having a new stadium built.