Cisco To Help Build High-Tech Ballpark For Oakland A's

Cisco has agreed to sell a 143-acre parcel of land in Fremont, Calif., to the Oakland A's to house the new ballpark. Cisco currently leases the land and has an option to buy it. Terms of the sale are still subject to final negotiation and weren't disclosed.

The San Jose, Calif., networking company also plans to buy naming rights for the new stadium, which will be called Cisco Field, in a 30-year deal valued at a minimum of $4 million per year.

In addition, Cisco will become the team's official technology partner. Plans call for the new baseball-only stadium to include a vast array of fan features and services built on Cisco's networking, wireless, voice and video products.

"This will be a showcase, we think, for the world of sports, and we've got to earn that right," Cisco President and CEO John Chambers said in a press conference.

Plans also call for the facility to have a "Baseball Village" with residential housing, restaurants, retail shops and other community attractions, as well as a Cisco Customer Solutions Center to showcase the vendor's technology.

The team hopes to begin playing in the new stadium within three to five years.

Lew Wolff, owner and managing partner of the Oakland Athletics, noted in the press conference that plans aren't set in stone. "This is not a finished product," he said, adding that the team will solicit city, county and public input on design and planning issues.

With the the new stadium, the A's will be leaving their current home, McAfee Coliseum in Oakland, which also houses the Oakland Raiders National Football League team. Wolff said a decision on whether the A's will retain Oakland as part of its name won't come for another two to three years.

To help improve the fan experience while attending games, Cisco and the team are considering some 80 technology applications that could run in the ballpark, Chambers said.

Examples demonstrated in the press conference included electronic ticketing, whereby fans could buy tickets online and have them downloaded to a handheld device. As an incentive to purchase electronic tickets, fans could receive live video of the game on those devices. Once inside the park, digital signs could identify fans through the tickets on their PDAs or smart phones and use them to deliver personalized advertisements, such as an offer to upgrade to better seats. Fans also could use mobile devices to order snacks, score games or see instant video replays.

Plans also call for the park to feature two jumbo video screens, one inside for fans attending the game and another outside that will face a public park, enabling fans outside the stadium to view the game.

The building of new, top-of-the line stadiums is critical to the continued growth of the league, said MLB Commissioner Allan "Bud" Selig. "The new stadiums we have built have made a major contribution to the renaissance of this sport," Selig said, noting that some 76 million fans attended MLB games this year.