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With their classic team colors of
silver and black, the Oakland Raiders are one of the NFL's storied
franchises, winning 12 division titles and three Super Bowls. The
history of the Raiders dates back to January 1960, when the City of
Oakland was awarded an expansion franchise by the AFL. At that
time, Oakland was viewed as being a bedroom city and not a
metropolitan city. In the 1950s and early 1960s, city officials
developed plans to construct a major league stadium in order to
change the way the city was viewed. A big league
stadium would change the city's image and help Oakland potentially
lure a home to professional
sports franchise to the area. Led by Robert Nahas, a nonprofit
corporation was formed to finance and construct the new
stadium. Several sites around Oakland were proposed, but the group
chose a site near the Elmhurst District of East Oakland, as the
site for a stadium. In 1962 the stadium was approved by Alameda
County and the City of Oakland, and that spring construction
began. While the stadium was constructed the Raiders played at
stadiums around the Bay Area including
Kezar Stadium,
Candlestick
Park and Frank Youell Field.
Originally named the
Oakland Alameda County Coliseum, the stadium was constructed deep
in the ground, allowing fans to enter the stadium on the upper
level and walk down to the field level seats. Completed in four
years the Raiders played their first game at the coliseum on
September 18, 1966. The Oakland Coliseum
had 45,000 seats when it opened. Designed to be multipurpose, the
Raiders were the sole tenant of the coliseum for two years. After
the 1967, the Kansas City A’s (MLB) moved to Oakland, and began
playing at the stadium in 1968. The Oakland Coliseum was built
more for baseball than football. Many of the 45,000 seats were in
three tiers from the right field foul pole and circling around to the left field foul
pole. Bleachers were beyond the outfield wall. The Oakland
Coliseum was converted two ways from baseball to football when the
A’s moved into the stadium. The MLB season overlapped the first
couple of weeks of the NFL season. During this time, the NFL
gridiron was located between home plate and centerfield, making
the conversion process simpler. Once baseball was over, the
gridiron was located along the first and third base areas.
For over 20
years the Raiders played at the Oakland Coliseum. In the late
1970s Raiders owner Al Davis wanted the coliseum to be renovated
to include additional luxury suites in order for the team to bring
in additional revenue. The city decided not to renovate the
stadium and after the 1981 season the Raiders moved to Los
Angeles. Shortly after
moving to the Los Angeles, Davis wanted a
new stadium to replace the Los Angeles Coliseum because it lacked
luxury suites, was in a bad neighborhood and the Raiders had to
share it with USC (NCAA). Davis failed to receive support for a
new stadium and by the late 1980s it appeared that the Raiders may
move back to Oakland. Negotiations between the City of Oakland and
the Raiders began in 1989 and in March 1991 Davis announced that
the team would move back to Oakland. However in September 1991,
negotiations failed and the Raiders announced they were staying in
Los Angeles.
After the
negotiations between the Raiders and the City of Oakland failed in
1991, the city began to work out a new agreement to get the team
to return to the Oakland Coliseum. The team and the city
reached an agreement and in June
1995 Al Davis announced the Raiders were
moving back to Oakland.
In
November 1995, a $200 million project began to add over 22,000
seats to the stadium, increasing the seating capacity to 64,200. All of the outfield bleachers were removed
and replaced with a four tier grandstand that includes 125 luxury
suites. The Raiders moved back into the coliseum for the 1996
season. In 1998, the Oakland Coliseum was renamed Network
Associates Coliseum. The stadium received a new name after the
2004 NFL season, McAfee Coliseum, until 2008 when it was renamed
Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum again. In April 2011,
Overstock.com purchased the naming rights to the coliseum for
$1.2 million annually for six years and the stadium is now known
as O.co Coliseum. Before the start of the 2013 season, the Raiders
announced plans to tarp off the east-side "Mt.-Davis" third deck
of the coliseum, reducing the seating capacity to 53,250. The team
decided to do this in order to ensure that all home games are
broadcast locally on TV and cannot reopen these seats throughout
the season, even if they make the playoffs. The future of the
Raiders in Oakland is uncertain as the team would like to have a
new stadium built.
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