By midday, the club had secured more than 800 reserved shares. The campaign is powered by DealMaker, a cloud-based technology platform built for community investment rounds and for companies to complete capital raises.
“We are blown away by the response,” Ballers cofounder and CEO Paul Freedman said via text message.
Playing their inaugural season in the Pioneer League with 48 home games at renovated Raimondi Park in West Oakland, the Ballers hope to provide the city with some stability following the departures of the Golden State Warriors to San Francisco and Oakland Raiders to Las Vegas. After this season, the Athletics plan to relocate to Sacramento for the next three years and to eventually move to Las Vegas.
Major League Baseball owners unanimously approved the A’s move in November, and the team plans to build a stadium on the Las Vegas Strip with the hope of playing there starting in 2028.
Freedman and cofounder Bryan Carmel were inspired by a reverse boycott at the Coliseum last summer and wanted to do something to keep baseball alive for years to come in the East Bay.
Carmel said that over the past 80 years, more than 30 sports teams have relocated, “leaving fans heartbroken and powerless.”
“Oakland is just the latest example of a systemic problem with how pro sports teams are run in the United States,” he said in a press release. “Even if you’re not an Oakland sports fan, you get our frustration because we’ve all seen something we love taken away for someone else’s gain.”
The enthusiasm for the team became clear at the home opener June 4.
“Honestly, it’s taken an unbelievable amount of work to get to where we are,” Freedman said. “The support makes every day, every hour, every moment spent feel worthwhile.”
