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Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum is located 3
miles from Oakland International Airport and has
nearly 10,000 on-site parking spaces. The
complex rests on 120 acres and was constructed
in 1966 at a cost of $25.5 million. The
architect was Skidmore, Owings & Merrill and the
general contractor was Guy F. Atkinson Company. |
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To
satisfy a provision in the 1995 agreement to bring
the Raiders back to Oakland, after a 12-year stint
in Los Angeles, a Coliseum renovation project began
in November 1995 and proceeded through the 1996
baseball season. Although the renovations were
projected to cost $100 million, the cost eventually
ballooned to $200 million. The A's played their
first few home games of the 1996 season in Las Vegas
while work crews installed new seats in the
Coliseum. The project has removed the outfield
bleachers but added two 40,000-square-foot
clubs, 22,000 seats, 125 luxury suites, a
9000-square-foot kitchen, two new color video boards
and two matrix scoreboards.
In September 1997 UMAX Technologies, a tiny Bay Area
subsidiary of a Taiwanese computer hardware maker,
bought the naming rights to the Coliseum. The deal
would have given Oakland, Alameda County and the
Raiders NFL franchise more than $17 million over 10
years. However, a dispute arose and a 1998 court
decision reinstated the stadium's original name.
Later that year, Network Associates agreed to pay
$5.8 million to put their name on the stadium for 5
years. In 2004, Network Associates was renamed
McAfee, and the name of the Athletics' stadium was
changed accordingly.
Some Oakland Raiders history: The Raiders were
professional football’s most consistent team from
the mid-1960s through the mid-1980s, reaching the
playoffs 15 times and earning four NFL or American
Football League (AFL) titles in 19 seasons. As AFL
champions, they played in the second Super Bowl, in
1968, and lost to the Green Bay Packers (33-14).
During John Madden’s ten years as head coach
(1969-1978), Oakland played in seven league or
conference championship games and won one Super
Bowl, in 1977. From 1980 to 1993 the team reached
the postseason eight times, winning the Super Bowl
in 1981 and 1984. The Raiders
are the only team that appeared in at least one
Super Bowl each decade during the 1960s, 1970s, and
1980s.
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