Oakland Approves $125 Million Coliseum Sale, Clearing Way for Irving Azoff Overhaul

Under the terms approved Monday, Oakland agreed to sell its stake to the Oakland Acquisition Company, an affiliate of the African American Sports and Entertainment Group, for a lump sum of $110 million. The parties also agreed to additional payments adding up to $15 million in closing costs.

The 112-acre complex is being sold as two parcels: a smaller 9-acre plot that includes the Oakland Arena, and a larger 103-acre area, which includes the Coliseum Stadium and surrounding lots. As part of the deal, OAC is expected to sell the Arena parcel to venue management company Oak View Group, founded by entertainment mogul Irving Azoff, for $100 million.

The concurrent sale of the parcels is set to close as soon as September, and no later than January 2027.

Negotiating the sale of the Coliseum has been a long and complicated process, requiring both the city and Alameda County to come to separate agreements with OAC to sell their halves of the stake in the property.

Azoff, a former record executive and former CEO of Ticketmaster, joined city officials in Oakland Monday morning, vowing to attract more music and bigger shows to the arena by investing in the building and improving the fan experience.

“This is not a rescue mission in itself; it’s just an opportunity to take what I consider to be a B experience and make it an A-plus experience,” Azoff said. “The fan experience at the arena is going to be second to none.”

Azoff’s group has done similar revitalization projects at the Kia Forum in Inglewood, and CFG Bank Arena in Baltimore.

He said Oak View Group plans to invest tens of millions to upgrade facilities at the arena and bring in locally run businesses to support concessions and amenities.

“Our opportunity is to respect what works, invest in what could be better, invest in the community and bring our unique artist relationships, both as a management company and as OVG, to get to the next chapter of this great building,” Azoff said.

The city will also receive 6% of revenue from future event ticket sales at both the arena and stadium, as long as it’s functioning.

Councilmember Rowena Brown, who will be leading the city and buyers’ work to reinvest in East Oakland, said the city hopes to use that revenue to build up the surrounding area, including a major, struggling business corridor, which connects the Coliseum to the airport.

“It is our hope that we can use that to help revitalize the Hegenberger Corridor, as well as help uplift East Oakland that has been underserved for so long,” Brown said.

But Oakland will have to wait longer — and risk uncertainty — before the stadium parcel is paid for in full. OAC agreed to pay $60 million for the city’s interest in the larger parcel within the next seven years. The company has already made a $5 million deposit on the sale, which will be subtracted from that balance.

During a special city council meeting Monday, council members asked what would happen if the acquisition group fails to make scheduled payments, or reneges on the deal.

City finance director Bradley Johnson said in the worst case, the city would retain the deed to the land — and save up to $42 million in maintenance costs over seven years.

Oakland currently spends about $6 million a year to keep the Coliseum running, which it will no longer be responsible for when the deal closes.

“That’s money, if this deal is signed and we transfer ownership, that can continue to flow back to the city of Oakland that we can use to keep our core city services going,” Councilmember Janani Ramachandran said.

Councilmember Ken Houston, whose district includes the complex, said the deal agreed to Monday makes “lemonade out of lemons,” after years of delays, departures and controversy.

In 2024, then Mayor Sheng Thao included revenue from the presumed Coliseum sale in the city’s annual budget — money that did not end up materializing within the year, and later required drastic service cuts.

Thao was recalled that November, following her involvement in an FBI fraud and bribery investigation.

Three major sports teams that used to play at the stadium or arena, including the Golden State Warriors, Raiders and Athletics, have all departed Oakland in the last decade. Last week, the Oakland Roots, a professional soccer club that’s played at the Oakland Coliseum for the last two years, announced that they would leave the venue this fall.

Mayor Barbara Lee, who was elected to replace Thao, said it was a “good news day” for Oakland.

“This deal … really paves the way to create jobs and economic development, economic activity, specifically in underserved areas in East Oakland and deep East Oakland,” Lee said. “These investments are long overdue, and our community deserves this.”