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Oakland A’s: The Coliseum gets a new old name

By David Hill

OAKLAND, CA - SEPTEMBER 29: A view of RingCentral Coliseum during Game One of the Wild Card Round between the Oakland Athletics the Chicago White Sox on September 29, 2020 in Oakland, California. The White Sox defeated the Athletics 4-1. (Photo by Michael Zagaris/Oakland Athletics/Getty Images)
OAKLAND, CA - SEPTEMBER 29: A view of RingCentral Coliseum during Game One of the Wild Card Round between the Oakland Athletics the Chicago White Sox on September 29, 2020 in Oakland, California. The White Sox defeated the Athletics 4-1. (Photo by Michael Zagaris/Oakland Athletics/Getty Images) /
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The Oakland A’s will be playing in the same ballpark as they have been, but it will have a different name in the coming years.

Plenty of ink has been spilled, and plenty of words have been typed, about the Oakland A’s need for a new ballpark. In theory, a new stadium would lead to increased revenue, which could allow the A’s to keep some of their players.

But that may be a long time in the future. For now, the focus is to make the Oakland Coliseum a better place for the A’s and their fans while looking to maximize revenue. There are only so many ways that the A’s can do that however.

However, a new source of revenue is forthcoming. The Oakland Coliseum will have a new name for at least three years, as the naming rights have been sold to RingCentral, a cloud based communications business from Belmont, the second time they had purchased those rights.

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RingCentral had been working to gain naming rights for some time, but that effort had been hampered. In May 2019, the Coliseum Stadium Authority board had approved a three year, $3 million deal with RingCentral to have their name attached to the stadium, but a scandal involving former Executive Director Scott McKibben forced the deal to be canceled.

With McKibben having been removed from his post, the deal has been given new life. RingCentral will pay $450,000 up front, and another $15,000 per month during the pandemic. Once that comes to an end, and games are once again able to take place in front of fans, the company will pay $1.1 million per year for the next three years.

In the grand scheme of everything, this is not a lot of money. However, with teams facing financial issues during the offseason, and the possibility that the beginning of the 2021 season will be played without fans in the stands, every dollar matters.

A's front office may not change after all. dark. Next

The Oakland A’s will be playing in a familiar place, but with a new name. Get ready to head to the RingCentral Coliseum when fans are allowed in the stands.