It Costs $250,000 to Transform O.co Coliseum From a Baseball to Football Stadium
By Eric He
May 10, 2012; Oakland, CA, USA; General view of O.co Coliseum during the game between the Oakland Athletics and the Detroit Tigers score eight runs during the third inning at . Mandatory Credit: Kelley L Cox-USA TODAY Sports
Most people are probably aware that the Oakland Raiders have to move their game this Sunday against the San Diego Chargers from 1:25 PM to 8:35 PM because of the amount of work it will take to transform the O.co Coliseum from baseball to football after the Oakland A’s playoff game on Saturday night. However, few know exactly how much it costs or how much work it takes.
Well, courtesy of ESPN’s Paul Guttierez, we know the answer to both questions.
It costs a whopping $250,000 to make the transformation from baseball to football (and vice versa), which is a lot more than one would think. So after Sunday, it will have cost $2 million alone this NFL season just to change the field after the A’s and Raiders games. And that doesn’t include future A’s Sunday playoff games, should they make it all the way to the World Series.
But how much work does it actually take to make the transformation?
Coliseum workers spend 18-20 hours on the gig, and make no mistake: there is a lot to be done, as NFL.com points out some of the highlights.
The outfield fence pads have to be removed, seats need to be rearranged, plywood needs to be laid down, trash needs to be picked up, the pitching and bullpen mounds need to be taken out, fresh sod needs to be layered on the field, and all the markings (yardage, end zone, etc.) need to be painted on the football field, which uses around 35-40 gallons of paint.
The A’s and Tigers will play Game 2 of the ALDS Saturday night at 6:07 PM, and the Coliseum workers will surely hope that there will be no extra innings.