Oracle Arena
General Info
The Oracle Arena also known by its former name of The Arena in
Oakland is an
indoor
arena in
Oakland,
California,
United
States. It was originally constructed as the Oakland-Alameda County
Coliseum Arena in
1966. Over the
years though, the arena became increasingly outdated, lacking the luxuries of
newer ones. Rather than building a new arena in Oakland – or, for that matter,
in
San
Francisco or
San
Jose, as some wanted – the decision was made to proceed with a $121
million renovation that tore down much of the old arena, leaving the external
walls, roof and foundation, along with a few other features, intact, and then
building a new seating bowl within the older confines, similar to what was
done to the
KeyArena
in Seattle. The renovation began in
mid-1996 and was
completed in time for the
Golden
State Warriors to return in the fall of
1997. (They
played the intervening season at the
San
Jose Arena). The new arena seats 19,596 for
basketball
and 17,000 for
ice
hockey. It hosted
WCW
SuperBrawl
1999 and the 2000
NBA
All-Star Game.
The arena has been home to the
Golden
State Warriors since
1966, excepting
the one-year hiatus. The
Cal
Golden Bears have played a few games at the arena over the years, as well.
The Coliseum also hosted the Bay Bombers
(Roller
Derby, 1966-1973) as well as the
California
Golden Seals (also known as the Oakland Seals and California Seals
previously) of the
NHL
from
1967–1976.
The
Oakland
Skates, a professional
roller
hockey team, also played here from
1993 to
1995.
The Arena in Oakland hosted the West Regional of the
2006
NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament. It has twice before played
host as the West Regional site in
1990 and
1995.
Concert Info
The arena has also been used as a concert venue for bands like
Pink
Floyd (1977),
Bruce
Springsteen & the
E
Street Band
(1984) &
(1999),
Rage
Against the Machine
(1997),
Tool
(2002) &
(2006),
U2
(2001) &
(2005) and
The
Rolling Stones
(2006).
The
Golden
State Warriors attendance record was set on April 27th, 2007 when 20,629
fans watched the 8-seed Warriors rout the 1-seed
Dallas
Mavericks 109-91 in Game 3 of the team's first round series. The game was
the first home playoff game in 13 seasons for the Warriors.
The
Oracle
On
October
20, 2006 the
Golden State Warriors and the
Oracle
Corporation announced a 10-year agreement in which the Oakland Arena will
be known as The Oracle. The Oracle will continue to be managed by
Oakland-Alameda County Authority (JPA) and SMG. The JPA will be asked to
approve the deal at its
November
10 meeting. A formal press conference of the agreement was held on
October
30.[1]
That formal announcement refers to Oracle Arena.
[2]
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