By Magaly Muñoz

Oakland has taken a major step toward securing funds that will spare the city from significant budget cuts by signing an agreement to sell Coliseum Stadium.

Mayor Sheng Thao and City Manager Jestin Johnson signed the temporary agreement with African American Sports and Entertainment Group (AASEG) on Tuesday morning. The agreement sets out the plan for the sale, including payment schedule and ownership restrictions.

“What we have done today is a change for the better because we are investing not just in the present, but in the Oakland of tomorrow,” Thao said at a press conference Tuesday morning.

The sale of Oakland’s half-ownership of the stadium to AASEG was announced in late May and presented as a way to save the city from the large deficit it struggled with for weeks in June.

The City Council passed a sale-dependent budget, avoiding cuts in all departments, especially those responsible for public safety, such as police and fire.

If the sale had fallen through, cuts would have had to be made immediately in September to bridge the deficit. But the new agreement gives a sense of security and success to officials who would have had to make difficult decisions.

The funds will allow the city to maintain 678 sworn police officers, fund crime prevention teams, train three police academies and keep all fire stations operational.

The city will receive approximately $60 million from AASEG in the 2024-25 fiscal year. A $5 million deposit is due within five days of signing the purchase agreement. After the deposit, the group will pay $10 million by September 1, $15 million by November 1, and $33 million by January 15, 2025.

The remaining $42 million is due no later than June 30, 2026.

“We will always continue to move this process forward because our families, our community, depend on it and that is why we are here. We are committed to it,” said Ray Bobbitt, founder of AASEG, on Tuesday.

Bobbitt, an Oakland native, pledged his commitment to the city and to bringing new opportunities to the area, adding that investing in public safety, residents’ number one concern, is equally important during this process.

The other half of the Coliseum’s ownership is owned by the Oakland A’s baseball team, who are playing their final season at the stadium before temporarily moving to Sacramento while the team builds a stadium in Las Vegas. They purchased that half from Alameda County.

Bobbit said AASEG is “in constant contact” with the A’s about buying their half of the stadium, but no further details were provided on when a deal will officially be on the table.

The A’s and the city fought a long battle to get the team to stay when the stadium’s lease expired, but Oakland was unable to persuade the baseball team to stay. The aftermath has led to bitterness and anger in the community that has long supported the team and has now lost a professional sports team for the third time.

Council President Nikki Fortunato-Bas said at Tuesday’s city meeting that Oakland had previously tried to negotiate a non-sale with Alameda County, but they ultimately went through with their own deal.

“This is an investment in Oakland and the region today. It is also an investment in the future, and as you heard from Mr. Bobbitt, it is also an investment in public safety,” Fortunato-Bas said.

“Today a boom loop begins here in Oakland!”