The big college football news yesterday was Cal announcing it will play its 2011 home football games at AT&T Park in San Francisco. My initial reaction was excitement as I’ve always wanted to go to the Emerald Bowl (particularly in 2008) to see what a football game is like at AT&T Park. As I thought about it further, however, I have a few concerns:
- Location
- While AT&T Park does have public transportation (BART, Ferry, etc.) available nearby its not quite as easy as the Oakland Coliseum particularly for a large contingent of students coming from Berkeley. Cal will provide buses for students (which works for UCLA & the Rose Bowl) but in my experience getting to the Oakland Coliseum is more convenient.
- AT&T Park is built for baseball
- I’ve never seen a football game at AT&T Park, but from a few comments on Twitter the setup has been a bit awkward at the Emerald Bowl. While it’s only one season, it seems that a venue that currently supports football would be better, although Candlestick Park & Oakland Coliseum have both had baseball teams play there as well.
- Capacity of AT&T Park is 45,000
- Cal’s average attendance for the 2009 season was about 59,000. The largest crowd was 71,799 for USC and smallest was 53,347 for Arizona. The 2011 schedule will be the same in terms of Pac-10 home and away matchups which means USC will play at AT&T Park. Cal also finished 6th in the Pac-10 and presumably would have larger crowds if they are in the hunt for a Pac-10 title or BCS berth. Athletic Director Sandy Barbour indicated most of the season ticket holders could be accommodated and visiting allotments would be reduced at AT&T Park but that is still a lot of fans that won’t be able to see the team play.
- AT&T Park might ruin the allure/excitement of a refurbished Memorial Stadium
- AT&T Park is a world class facility and one of the nicest venues in all of sports. My concern is that after playing a season at AT&T Park, the excitement and reaction to the newly refurbished Memorial Stadium will be lost. I’d equate it to a consumer trading in a Lexus for another Lexus, as opposed to a lesser name car for a Lexus. While they are both exciting, transitioning from a lesser quality to higher quality generally results in a more positive reaction from consumers.
My biggest concerns are the latter two. I recognize the biggest problem with the Oakland Coliseum is scheduling given the Oakland A’s and Oakland Raiders currently play there. Presumably it was too difficult to schedule a third team and Candlestick Park is even further away from Berkeley which presents problems as well. What are your thoughts on the partnership? What do you see as the biggest benefit, or biggest concern?
Disclaimer: I’m a Cal alum, who completed my MBA at ASU, and will be pursuing a PhD at the University of Oregon in the fall. As I told Jeff Tedford in the Phoenix airport last week, I’m a Cal Bear fan at heart. I love AT&T Park too so I am excited to see Cal play there but do have a few concerns. Giants president (and Cal alum) Larry Baer called it a “neighborly act” so I certainly wish Cal and AT&T Park the best in their partnership.