The Oak View Group (OVG), co-founded in 2015 by the music industry mogul Irving Azoff, is in talks to buy the Oakland Arena in Oakland, California, US, as part of the pending sale of the Oakland Coliseum complex thus adding a new layer to the years long effort to transfer control of the 155-acre East Oakland property.
‘San Francisco Chronicle’ stated that an unnamed potential buyer for the arena was first mentioned in a term sheet released on May 27th by the Alameda County outlining an agreement among the County, the African American Sports & Entertainment Group and the Coliseum Way Partners regarding the County’s 50 percent share of the Coliseum complex.
Concert Venue
Since the National Basketball Association (NBA) team Golden State Warriors left for the18,064-capacity Chase Center in San Francisco, California, in 2019 the 19,200-seat Oakland Arena has found a new life as a concert venue. Ariana Grande (American singer-songwriter and actor) and Olivia Rodrigo (American singer) have both sold out multiple shows scheduled for later this year at the arena. The property is currently managed by the entertainment group Legends Global.
New York (US)-based Legends Global is the premier partner to the world’s greatest live events, venues and brands. They deliver a fully integrated solution of premium services that keeps their partners front-and-center through their white-label approach.
The Oak View Group, LLC (OVG) is an American professional sport, venue management, hospitality, sponsorships, booking, and commercial real estate company based in Denver.
The 19,596-seat Oakland Arena, often referred to as the Oakland Coliseum Arena, is an indoor arena in Oakland, California (US) and is part of the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum Authority.
The Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum, often shortened to Oakland Coliseum, is a multipurpose stadium in Oakland, California, United States. It serves as part of the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum Complex located next to the Oakland Arena.
The African American Sports & Entertainment Group (AASEG) is an Oakland-based development and investment organization founded in 2020. Its primary mission is to leverage sports and entertainment as a vehicle to drive economic equity, empowerment and wealth generation within the Black community.
The Coliseum Way Partners is a development entity affiliated with the Oakland Athletics (‘A’s’) baseball team.
‘San Francisco Chronicle’ further stated that a spokesperson for the Oak View Group (OVG), which is owned by the private equity company Silver Lake, said on May 27th that the group is involved in the deal. Two people familiar with the agreement said that the Oak View Group was in discussions to buy the arena.
Term Sheet
The term sheet states that an ‘Arena Buyer’ would pay at least $100 million for the arena, the more active piece of the Coliseum complex, which includes both the stadium and the arena whose ownership is currently split 50-50 by Oakland and the Alameda County.
It was not clear whether any other parties are also interested in buying the arena.
AASEG
Under the terms released on May 27th the County would buy back its half of the complex from the Coliseum Way Partners and, in turn, sell it to AASEG. It would mark an important step in moving forward a complicated transaction that has been on hold for several years though other hurdles remain.
The AASEG, headed by Oakland native Ray Bobbitt, has been the public face of the deal to purchase the Coliseum complex. The group is financially sponsored by Loop Capital, a Chicago-based investment firm, which has also been seeking outside investors to provide the capital needed to close the deal.
The AASEG reached an agreement with Oakland in 2024 to buy its half of the complex and in July reached an agreement to purchase Alameda County’s half.
Bobbitt informed that the AASEG and Loop are still working to select a partner for “the first phase of our revitalization plan”.
The AASEG has previously said that it plans to build affordable housing and a hotel on the site of the Coliseum. It has not so far indicated when it will move forward on that part of the project.
‘A’ Ballpark
But before the County can complete that sale it must unwind a previous deal it struck in 2019 to sell its half of the complex to the group affiliated with the ‘A’s’ for $85 million.
At the time the ‘A’s’ were also pursuing plans to build a new waterfront ballpark at the Howard Terminal and ostensibly viewed the Coliseum as a potential backup. The plans at Howard Terminal later collapsed and the ‘A’s’ moved ahead with a $2 billion stadium in Las Vegas backed by $380 million in public financing from Nevada.
The Oakland Athletics (commonly known as the ‘A’s’) are an American professional baseball team that competes in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a Member of the American League (AL) West Division.
Coliseum Way
To get Coliseum Way out of the deal the County will reimburse the partners the $85 million they held in escrow plus an additional $30 million, according to the term sheet.
Sandy Dean, Vice-Chairman of the ‘A’s’, said that the Coliseum Way Partners invested more than $10 million in supporting operating losses and expenses related to the property.
Payment Plan
The AASEG would then enter into a payment plan with the County for its share paying it $115 million for the Coliseum Complex over multiple years along with five percent interest compounding annually.
Should the Oak View Group, or another third party, purchase the arena from the AASEG at least 50 percent of the proceeds of that sale would be paid toward the principal owed to the County, according to the term sheet.
Cultivating Relationship
The local leaders have been cultivating a relationship with Azoff for at least the last year. In March 2025, he had even been set to speak at the Oakland Chamber of Commerce’s Economic Summit hosting a talk called ‘Bold Investments and Big Ideas’ though the talk was canceled since the deal hadn’t closed.
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