McAfee Coliseum was built, in part, to fix Oakland's identity crisis. Wanting to distinguish themselves
from San Francisco and the rest of the Bay Area, Oakland residents thought a sports venue was the answer.
So in 1960, a nonprofit group was formed to begin planning would-be McAfee, then called simply the Coliseum.
(It would later be known as Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum and Network Associates Coliseum.) By 1962 the
city and Alameda County approved $25 million to go toward stadium construction. The Raiders played their
first game at the Coliseum on Sept. 18, 1966. The Oakland A's, who had moved from Kansas City, followed
suit on April 17, 1968. In 1982, the Raiders left Oakland for Los Angeles. By 1995, the Raiders agreed to
return to Oakland on the condition that the coliseum undergo major football-friendly renovations; the revamped
stadium now includes luxury suites, club levels, two new club lounges, new locker rooms, a remodeled press box,
new video scoreboards and additional amenities.
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