With the exodus of other professional teams, the Oakland Roots stand strong in representing the historic sporting city
Of course the new era of the Oakland Coliseum was christened with something to remember. It just had to be. This is an old stadium. The outside world will tell you it’s decrepit, even unfit for sports. Professional teams in the NFL and MLB have abandoned the 59-year-old stadium. But it’s also a place full of memories and great sporting moments that this city can still cling onto.
And on March 22, Justin Rasmussen added another. He really could have nodded it back to the open man on the edge of the box, or hooked it back into the mixer – with two teammates wide open at the back post. Instead, Rasmussen, a left back for the USL's Oakland Roots, swung one foot over another, judging the shape, spin, and flight on the ball, and bashed a bicycle kick into the top corner. And in response, 26,575 people rose to their feet in unison. Another memory for the collection.
From the outside, it may appear to be a story of fight and resilience. And in many ways it is. Three major franchises – count them off: the Oakland A's, the Oakland Raiders and the Golden State Warriors – have left the city in the past five years. The Roots remain, flying the flag for sports in this town that has long embraced its teams.
But in reality, the Roots have always been here, deeply embedded – indeed, deeply rooted in Oakland.
“As someone born and raised in Oakland, it's a huge disappointment," Tommy Hodul, the Roots' senior vice resident of communications and Oakland native, told GOAL. "I grew up an A's fan, I grew up a Warriors fan. I grew up a Raiders fan. And it's like, even with how great it is for the Oakland Roots, it's still not the best thing for our city."
Getty ImagesFinancial incentives
This starts – and ends – with money. Every single owner to pass through Oakland with a major professional sports franchise has bolted for greener pastures with financial interests in mind.
The Golden State Warriors, who enjoyed immense success in the latter years at the Oracle Arena, realized they could make more money in San Francisco. The Raiders – who have now left the city twice – bolted for the bright lights of Las Vegas. And the Athletics will follow, playing in Sacramento before moving across state lines in 2028.
It is, in many way, the death of sporting culture in the city. Oakland Coliseum is the birthplace of "the wave" – the fan cheer created in 1981, and now featured in almost all sporting events. The Black Hole was one of NFL’s finest fan groups in their day. The Warriors, when successful, curated one of the best home atmospheres in American sports. The best days of the Coliseum as both a baseball and football venue are still held in high regard.
These days, though, just the soccer team is left. The Roots bounced around various venues in their first few years of existence, playing on a Cal State campus in the nearby city of Hayward. Now, though, they’re back in the town of their namesake. And they argue that they’re the only team that has been truly authentic to this city – uncompromising when others so readily uprooted.
"I was excited, actually," Warren Chu, a spokesperson for the group Save Oakland Sports told FOX 2 Sports. "First, it's really, something positive and the opportunity to play at the Oakland Coliseum is great. It's a great facility for fans."
AdvertisementOakland Roots SCBuilding a brand
The first thing that catches the eye is the kits. American soccer, in some ways, has a problem with authenticity. Some names – Real Salt Lake, Chicago Fire, the chucking of an “SC” at the end of any random town – feel like caricatures of European clubs.
In a country that is still in its gestation period with the sport, how do you create a product that fans can relate to? How can this franchise, which has only existed since 2019, represent the 464,000 residents of this town?
A good starting point, Roots president and co-founder Edreece Arghandiwal argues, is to piece together something desirable. And Oakland has done just that. They technically don’t have a team color, their jerseys a patchwork of hues and shades. The kits, then, are unique, a world away from the standard templates of MLS or the U.S. national teams. It doesn’t hurt the finances whatsoever, with the club’s merchandise routinely outselling those of major American soccer sides, Arghandiwal said.
But this isn’t just technicolor for the sake of. Oakland is, on the face of things, a tricky city to represent. Both the Hell’s Angels and Black Panthers were founded here. It is 27 percent Latino, 22 percent Black and 16 percent Asian. Simple tones can’t come close to representing all of that. So, everything is bright and vivid.
Getty ImagesThe best pun in American soccer
Even the name circles back into that same principle. This is a club that, quite literally, recognizes its roots. It’s a pun hiding in plain sight.
“We came up with the name that is authentic to our city,” Hodul said.
And the club has done pretty much everything to back that up. The training ground – formerly owned by the now-Las Vegas Raiders – is complete with murals and street art from the local communities. A local artist is painting a canvas of every single home game this season.
A land blessing, effectively a homage to the Native American community, was conducted before the home opener – acknowledging the land they play on was once inhabited by Native Americans. At that same game, local rap legend Too $hort – a pioneer of West Coast Hop Hop who worked with both Tupac and the Norotious B.I.G. – put on a half time performance.
"There's a relationship. You have to understand that what uplifts Oakland isn't only sports. There's a thousand things that do. The history here will tell you that everybody's welcome,” Hodul said.
GettyStaying when everyone else leaves
So why has all of these teams left? If this place is so special, so deeply rooted in community, why are the Roots the only club that remain? Hodul argues that it’s a financial issue. In the history of all American sports, franchises uproot and find new spots where fans will happily pay big money to come to state of the art stadiums. The Los Angeles Rams did it in 2016, but this has been happening since the mid 1900s. California alone has seen 10 teams change locations alone in the last 50 years.
“You go and find a community that is so desperate for identity and self identity that you can convince them to play hundreds of millions of dollars to build you a stadium that you then get to have for free,” Hodul said. “And what I mean by that is these billionaire owners are getting the poorest people in the world to build them something, and then they are in control of it.”
The Roots have gone the opposite way.
“What we are doing in Oakland is very much indicative of the right process and how things should be built,” Arghandiwal said. “Which is community-centric, community focused, built by common people, by the people that support the effort, day-in and day-out.”
While there is no denying that any team would like a state of the art, new facility, local dollars are going elsewhere. Hodul insists that they’re fine with that reality.
“The city of Oakland has come from very, very liberal, forward thinking people and understand funding Oakland education is more important than funding a billionaire's project, of any type, not just sports. And I think that Oakland is going to be last city that will get scammed by this,” Hodul said.
Of course, money plays a factor here. And the Roots have more than enough to get by, as well as a stadium to play in – even if it has its critics. Communities local and abroad have seen that, too, with the club raising $3.8 million from 6,000 investors last year. There is also a celebrity influence to be found here. Former NFL running back Marshawn Lynch is in the ownership group. Green Day singer Billy Joe Armstrong and NBA Hall of Famer Jason Kidd also have stakes.
"When I got the opportunity to come home and play my final seasons in the Coli, it was special,” Lynch said. “I won OAL titles there with Oakland Tech. What that building means to Oakland and the culture is everything. Now we got Roots moving in and we gonna hold it down.”