In
an effort to try to lure Major League Baseball to the
opposite side of San Francisco Bay, and in the
realization that the AFL and its Oakland Raiders weren't
going to wither away and die, the city of Oakland built
Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum in 1966 on a 120 acre
site, adding a basketball arena shortly thereafter.
"The Coliseum" is unique in that its partially
built underground - fans entering the facility walk into
the building above the lower-level seats. The
Raiders were joined by the former Kansas City Athletics
in 1968 as maverick team owner Charles O. Finley
relocated his club. In 1982 the Raiders packed
their bags and moved to Los Angeles, leaving the door
wide open for Tad Taube and the USFL's Oakland Invaders
to make it their home. In
their inaugural USFL season the Invaders drew in excess
of 30,000 fans a game, cheering them on to the league's
first Pacific Division title. From there it would
be downhill. The Invaders were seen as no
substitute for the NFL Raiders, and attendance dropped
to below 25,000 in 1984, and then to below 20,000 in
1985 despite a merger with the Michigan Panthers that
propelled the Invaders into the USFL Championship Game.
The demise of the Invaders would not prove to be the end
for pro football in Oakland, for in an unprecedented
move, the Raiders would relocate back to Oakland after a
dozen years in Los Angeles. The Raiders remain in
place today, but the A's will soon be on the move,
having reached a deal to build their own stadium in
Fremont, California.
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OAKLAND-ALAMEDA
COUNTY COLISEUM |
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Oakland,
California |
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