Five weeks ago, the Oakland Ballers announced the team would be opening an investment round to allow fans to purchase stakes in the new Pioneer League baseball franchise. That round officially opened Wednesday.
Investment shares start at $170 and the maximum amount the Ballers can raise through this round of funding is $1.235 million. The listed value of the franchise, which is playing its inaugural season, is $26.235 million.
In addition to gaining equity in the team, shareholders will receive a say in how the Ballers run their business. Shareholders will elect a fan director who will represent the interests of the fans as a member of the board of directors. Shareholders will also gain the right to vote on core team business decisions, such as whether the team would be allowed to move and on the contract for the head of baseball operations.
🚨 Today is the day! 🚨
Invest in the Oakland Ballers and secure your voice in key team decisions:
🏟️ Elect the fan rep to the board
📍 Have a say where the team plays
💼 Help make select front office hiresToday you can become a fan-owner and help us show the world what it…
— Oakland Ballers (@OaklandBallers) August 21, 2024
Ballers co-owners Paul Freedman and Bryan Carmel founded the team in November 2023 as a response to the Oakland A’s decision to leave the city for Las Vegas. The team has since funded renovations to historic Raimondi Park in West Oakland, where they have played their home games this season. Going into their final regular-season homestand, the Ballers have drawn more than 74,000 fans to Raimondi. According to the team, it has signed on nearly 50 sponsors and is on track to sell $1 million in merchandise in its first year.
“Today, we’re setting a new precedent for fan ownership models by not only ensuring fans receive ownership stakes but also guaranteeing them a real voice in key team decisions,” Freedman said in the team news release announcing the details of the investment round. “The Ballers are here to prove that Oakland is the perfect incubator for sports teams that value community, and by centering fans, we can build something great together.”
When the team announced the “testing the waters phase” of the investment round in July, Freedman and Carmel framed it as an opportunity to redefine the relationship between sports teams and their fans.
“We hope it’s a model that other teams who really center fans can follow,” Freedman told The Athletic in July.
“What we’re trying to do is show that there’s another way to do this that can be beneficial both for the fans and for the team,” Carmel added.
The investment round is being hosted by Dealmaker. Further information can be found at invest.oaklandballers.com.
Last week, another Oakland pro sports franchise, the Oakland Roots and Soul SC, announced they would be opening their second investment round on Sept. 12. Nearly $2 million was raised in their first investment round, which was last summer. The Roots will be playing their 2025 USL season at the Oakland Coliseum, which will be vacated by the A’s, as they head to Sacramento ahead of their proposed move to Las Vegas. The Roots and Soul plan to build a modular soccer stadium on the Malibu Lot site of the Coliseum complex ahead of the 2026 season.
The Ballers had hoped to play at least one game at the Coliseum this season, but the A’s nixed those plans. Freedman is optimistic that the Ballers will get to play at least one more baseball game at the Coliseum now that the Roots will be the main tenant.
“We’re very optimistic we’ll play one game — if not more — at the Coliseum in the future,” Freedman said in July. “The fact that there’s gonna be soccer at the Coliseum is fantastic, but the Coliseum is meant for baseball, and it’s gotta have baseball in the future, as well.”
The Coliseum has hosted professional baseball since 1968 when the A’s moved west from Kansas City. The final A’s home game at the Coliseum is Sept. 26 versus the Texas Rangers. More than 70,000 fans packed the Coliseum over the weekend for the final Bay Bridge Series games between the A’s and Giants, and more than 40,000 tickets have been sold for the home finale.
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(Photo: Penny Collins / NurPhoto via AP)
