Green Day frontman Billie Joe Armstrong and rapper Too $hort are attempting to keep baseball alive in the Bay Area. The music icons are joining the ownership group of the Oakland Ballers, a new independent team attempting to keep baseball alive in the city.
The Oakland Ballers will be playing in the Pioneer League beginning in 2025.
“This is all about bringing families to a ball game,” Armstrong told The Hollywood Reporter. “After the A’s left, the town was heartbroken. The Ballers are going to bring good vibes back to Oakland and the broader East Bay.”
Armstrong even shared a photo on his Instagram account of an Oakland B’s symbol spray-painted over an Oakland A’s logo at the Rogers Center, home of the Toronto Blue Jays.
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The Ballers will be playing in a newly built stadium in Raimondi Park, which the team is hoping will draw fans who have expressed their displeasure in the MLB’s Oakland Athletics leaving town. The venue will hold 4,000 fans and is located just a few minutes from the Oakland Coliseum.
The team was founded by television producer Bryan Carmel along with his childhood friend and entrepreneur Paul Freedman. Carmel and Freedman are offering fans an opportunity to join a $1.2 million financing round in 2024. An estimated 2,200 people joined, and a similar startup process is expected at some point this year.
“This isn’t a case of celebrities coming in to save the day,” Carmel said. “It’s a local team, and Billie Joe and Too $hort are just some better-known locals.”
The Pioneer League is viewed as a partner league of the MLB, but no franchise is affiliated with major league teams. However, several Ballers players have signed with MLB teams in the past.
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