The Oakland Arena and Oakland Coliseum, as seen in 1992.
Chris Stewart/The Chronicle
A group headed by music industry mogul Irving Azoff is in discussions to purchase the Oakand Arena for at least $100 million.
Lionel Hahn/Getty Images
Oak View Group, co-founded in 2015 by music industry mogul Irving Azoff, is in talks to buy the Oakland Arena as part of the pending sale of the Oakland Coliseum complex, adding a new layer to the yearslong effort to transfer control of the 155-acre East Oakland property.
An unnamed potential buyer for the arena was first mentioned in a term sheet released Wednesday by Alameda County outlining an agreement among the county, the African American Sports & Entertainment Group, and Coliseum Way Partners, an affiliate of the A’s baseball team, regarding the county’s 50% share of the Coliseum complex.
A spokesperson for Oak View, which is owned by private equity company Silver Lake, said Wednesday that the group is involved in the deal. Two people familiar with the agreement told the Chronicle that Oak View was in discussions to buy the arena.
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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 arena, whose ownership is currently split 50-50 by Oakland and Alameda County.
It was not clear whether any other parties are also interested in buying the arena.
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Under the terms released Wednesday, the county would buy back its half of the complex from 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.
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.
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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.
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 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.
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.
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 5% interest compounding annually.
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Should Oak View Group, or another third party, purchase the arena from AASEG, at least 50% of the proceeds of that sale would be paid toward the principal owed to the county, according to the term sheet.
Since the Warriors left for the Chase Center in 2019, the 19,200-seat Oakland Arena has found a new life as a concert venue. Ariana Grande and Olivia Rodrigo have both sold out multiple shows scheduled for later this year at the arena. The property is currently managed by entertainment group Legends Global. Legends did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Local leaders have been cultivating a relationship with Azoff for at least the last year. In March 2025, he was the keynote speaker at the Oakland Chamber of Commerce’s Economic Summit, hosting a talk called “Bold Investments and Big Ideas.”
Azoff, who was previously chairman of ticketing platform LiveNation, has also worked on numerous stadium development projects. He led a group that renovated the Forum in Inglewood (Los Angeles County), as well as a group that built the 11,000-seat Acrisure Arena in Palm Springs and the Co-op Live arena in Manchester, which purports to be the largest indoor arena in the United Kingdom.
Bobbitt said AASEG and Loop are still working to select a partner for “the first phase of our revitalization plan.”
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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.
The Alameda County Board of Supervisors is set to vote Thursday to approve the term sheet.