The only stadium that hosts a MLB and NFL team is changing names again, as O.Co Coliseum will be just called The Coliseum from now on.
No more Oh Dot Co. The Coliseum is simply The Coliseum again, with Overstock opting out of naming rights with the stadium.
— Jane Lee (@JaneMLB) April 2, 2016
The Coliseum is the home of baseball’s Oakland Athletics and the Oakland Raiders of the NFL. When the Miami Marlins moved into Marlins Park in 2012, it became the only joint professional sports stadium in North America.
From 1968-1998 and again from 2008-2011, the official title was the Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum. It changed names a lot in the mean time, being known as Network Associates Coliseum from 1998-2004, McAfee Coliseum from 2004-2008, Overstock.com Coliseum in 2011, and eventually O.co Coliseum from 2011 until the present.
In that time, the stadium was more commonly referred to by locals as either The Coliseum or The Oakland Coliseum.
If this sounds familiar for Bay Area sports fans, there’s a reason. Candlestick Park was the original name of the old home of the San Francisco 49ers and San Francisco Giants from 1960-1995. From 1995-2002, itwas 3Com Park, from 2002-2004 it was rebranded San Francisco Stadium at Candlestick Point, it became Monster Park from 2004 until 2008 when it became Candlestick Park again until its closing.
Similarly, it was generally called Candlestick Park or simply The Stick for the whole time.
While this isn’t a terrible thing, it’s certainly not good news, either. This stadium has had many housekeeping issues in recent years, highlighted by sewage issues that temporarily moved both teams into one locker room.
Neither the A’s or Raiders have stable situations in Oakland at The Coliseum and the loss of a name sponsor will certainly not help their standing with the city.
It’s also not necessarily going to help either team financially. The Raiders are in the midst of seeing their rent increase from $925,000 in previous years to $3.5 million for this upcoming season.
While that doesn’t seem like a whole bunch of cash for a NFL team, it does play into the idea that the team is getting a raw end of the deal in Oakland — a fact magnified by its flirtation with relocating to other cities.