The Oaklandside25%
Roots get to keep Saturday’s game at Coliseum: ‘If they can’t play, they can’t pay’ 22%
By Azucena Rasilla5%
7/31/2026, 4:53:19 PM
Keywords: Oakland Coliseum, Oakland Roots
BS Summary: This article contains 31 faulty reasoning types, including Anecdotal, In-Group Bias, and Halo Effect, with Appeal to Emotion as the most egregious example at 14.6% saturation with 231 hits. Analysis detected 2,006 faulty-reasoning hits from 1,586 analyzed words, generating a BS Score of 30.4% and a BS Rank of 22% (20,414 of 25,930 articles). This article is better (less manipulative) than 78.70% of the article peer group.
The dispute between the Oakland Roots soccer organization and the board that governs the Oakland Coliseum was aired out today at a contentious public meeting.
The Roots defaulted on rent payments to the Coliseum authority and now owe $1.4 million.
The Coliseum’s executive director, Henry Gardner, has threatened to cancel upcoming games if the team doesn’t make good on its financial commitments.
Last week, a payment plan proposed by the club was rejected by Gardner, throwing tomorrow’s game against the Pittsburgh Riverhounds into question.
Alameda County Supervisor Nate Miley, who is the chair of the Coliseum authority, asked Gardner to hold off on canceling any games until today’s board meeting could be convened to explore some kind of possible deal.
Alameda County Supervisor David Haubert, who also sits on the Coliseum authority board, told the San Francisco Chronicle that the “decision to shut out the Roots shouldn’t be made without first consulting the Coliseum authority’s governing board of elected officials.”
Gardner said at the meeting that he had “heard through the grapevine” that some members of the Coliseum authority board felt blindsided by his decision to want to cancel Saturday’s game.
He pushed back, saying the real surprise was the Roots’ apparent inability to pay.
“I felt duped.
Do you hear what I just said?
I was not blindsided,” Gardner said at the meeting.
“I was duped when we discovered that they had not paid.”
At today’s meeting, Coliseum authority leaders decided to meet with the Roots and a representative from AEG (the company that handles event licensing agreements for the Coliseum) to try to reach an agreement.
Then, the commission will host another special meeting to vote on a resolution that has to take place before the Roots next home game on Aug.
15.
For now, the Roots will be allowed to continue playing at the Coliseum.
The team has five home games remaining before the end of the regular season.
Saturday’s Riverhounds match is also billed as “Super Hyphy Night,” with Oakland rapper Keak Da Sneak performing at halftime.
A default and failed attempts to strike a deal
The causes of the Roots’ apparent financial problems are unclear.
The Roots declined an interview request for this story.
But according to the team’s investor disclosures filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Roots reported $4 million in revenue in 2023 and a net loss of $10 million, with cash reserves of $738,000.
Although over 26,000 people attended the inaugural home opener at the Coliseum in 2025, attendance has drastically decreased.
According to the San Francisco Chronicle, the home games average 5,000 attendees, down 36% from last year, based on figures from the soccer newsletter Backheeled.
According to a Roots press release dated July 30, the club “does not have access to permanent sponsorship assets in the Coliseum to generate revenue to offset these fees.”
The Coliseum authority sent the Roots a notice of default on July 17, demanding the team pay the $1.4 million it owed, according to Gardner.
The Roots submitted a payment plan on July 24, but the Coliseum authority rejected it.
Gardner then gave the team an ultimatum to pay by July 28.
“We informed them that their failure to do so would result in cancellation of future games, commencing with the one scheduled for tomorrow,” Gardner said at today’s meeting.
In the past, said Gardner, the Roots always paid on time, sometimes even in advance.
According to Gardner, the payment plan the agency received and rejected was based on “projected revenues and prospective investors.”
Gardner’s counter-proposal for the Roots included paying the flat fee of $138,000, a food and beverage deposit of $20,000, and parking fees of $15,000, and a $200,000 payment toward the default amount for the remaining games.
A complicated lease agreement
The deal the Roots struck with the Coliseum in January requires the team to pay a flat fee that ranges from $138,000 to $300,000 per game depending on attendance numbers.
In exchange, the Roots get to use the Coliseum field and also get staffing, medical, security and police personnel, janitors and other services.
However, under the deal, the Roots have to pay a $20,000 guarantee if food and beverage concession sales fall short.
The agreement also stipulates that the Roots only get to keep ticket revenue.
Both parking fees and concessions earnings are kept by the Coliseum authority.
In July, Lindsay Barenz, president of the Oakland Roots Sports Club, told The Oaklandside that the club needs a stadium where they can be in complete control of the revenue and the cost of operations.
This season, the Roots were displaced so the Coliseum could host Major League Cricket.
The Coliseum authority board tries to make a deal
At Friday’s meeting, Oakland City Councilmember Ken Houston, who sits on the Coliseum authority board, said that he was “disappointed” by the situation.
He also described a conversation he had with Barenz where he asked if the club had any collateral it could put up until it pays its debt.
“If we don’t, it’s simple, we can hold the Roots name in the city and the county until they pay,” Houston said.
“Because if you don’t have any collateral, you don’t have a guarantee.”
Houston also suggested dividing the total amount the Roots owe by the number of games left, roughly $280,000 each, and adding that amount to the fees Gardner said the team has to pay each game in order to be guaranteed to play.
“Why can’t they do that?”
he asked.
“This is a business.
We need to run it like a business.”
Haubert said during the meeting that while he understood the difficult position Gardner was put in, the board has to understand that “if the Roots can’t play, they can’t pay.”
Generating money is important for the Coliseum and each game played provides jobs.
“That doesn’t mean allowing debt to increase, but if we can stop, freeze the debt by paying in advance for the games, then it allows them a chance to pay,” Haubert said.
“I understand they pay $15,000 towards facilities and parking, and it may not be a lot, but it’s something.
We get to employ people, and we get to keep the proceeds of parking.”
Commissioners Kevin Jenkins, Jacqueline Thompson and David Newton said at the meeting that they wanted to hear from the Roots how the club ended up in a dire financial position.
“Here’s the balance of having lost a few sports teams, and there’s the balance of having entered into horrible deals with the A’s, with the Warriors, the Raiders deal in 1995,” Jenkins said.
“Some of us remember that.
And just as a commissioner, as a council member, I don’t want to get left holding the bag if the Roots go dark or something happens and they are not able to pay.”
The Roots continue to have community support
During public comment, Barenz, the club’s president, spoke of the “challenging but also incredibly productive year for the Oakland Roots.”
“We hosted the Australia Men’s National Team during the World Cup, bringing 1000s of visitors to Oakland hotels and restaurants,” she said.
“And we hosted over 5,000 people at watch parties in the East Bay during the World Cup.”
Edreece Arghandiwal, co-founder of the Oakland Roots and the club’s chief marketing officer, told the Coliseum authority board that the “club has given many young people a chance to see a future in sports, support local businesses, and give Oaklanders something to gather around and call their own-a sense of joy, pride, and unity.”
Arghandiwal said that in order for the Roots to play at the Coliseum, the club invested $700,000 to convert the field from baseball to soccer, which made the venue viable also for cricket and other international soccer matches.
“Mexico and Japan last year sold out the Coliseum and created an amazing economic stimulus,” he said.
“This also created new revenue opportunities for the Coliseum as well.
We believe that the Coliseum can continue to matter.”
Several community members spoke in favor of the Roots during public comment, including Casey Pratt, the Oakland Ballers vice president of communications and fan entertainment, as well as the spokesperson for the Oakland Sports Group, a group that champions the roles of sports in the city.
“The Oakland Roots bring jobs, revenue.
They do a ton of work in the community.
They are a regional asset,” Pratt said.
“They wanted to play at the Coliseum and honor it.
Their entire marketing campaign celebrated the Coliseum and its legendary history.”
“It is important to acknowledge the unique and meaningful role the Oakland Roots play in our civic and community life,” said Barbara Leslie, the CEO of the Oakland Chamber of Commerce.
“As an organization focused on Oakland’s continued and sustained recovery, we see firsthand the qualitative and the quantitative impact they bring, from job creation and increased visitor spending to the support of local small businesses.”
Rex Maxion, who works at the Oakland Marriott City Center, said that the hotel has been hosting visiting teams for this season.
Part of the hotel tax goes to Visit Oakland, and part helps to fund cultural grants.
“There’s 17 teams staying with us, generating about 30 to 40 room nights each.
That provides tax revenue,” Maxion said.
“It also supports union jobs within the hotel.
Each team has catering, multiple meals a day, multiple days.
Not to mention fan travel.”
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