Paul Freedman, a serial entrepreneur, has taken on a new venture: running a baseball team like a startup. Freedman founded the Oakland Ballers, or the Oakland B’s for short, with his co-founder Bryan Carmel—the B’s aim to build something that prioritizes the fans and gives back to the community.
“We are looking at this as more than just a team; it’s a movement,” says Freedman. Freedman is applying many of the principles he learned in the fast-paced world of startups to manage the Oakland B’s. The focus is on innovation, community engagement, and sustainability.
By integrating modern technology and community-driven initiatives, the Oakland Ballers are creating buzz and excitement in a city with its fair share of sports heartbreaks. The founders hope their new-age approach will set a precedent for what a sports team can achieve on and off the field. While it remains to be seen how successful this entrepreneurial approach to managing a sports team will be, one thing is sure: the Oakland B’s are here to shake things up and redefine the sports experience for fans in the Bay Area.
The Oakland Ballers delivered in their inaugural season, reviving the city’s baseball legacy with a winning season and a playoff berth. Fans have flocked to the bleachers, nearly 2,000 on average at each home game. By contrast, only a few thousand more have been attending games at the Coliseum to see the Athletics play their last season in the storied stadium.
“We’re taking baseball back,” said Robert Sullivan, wearing an Oakland Ballers 2024 shirt during the team’s last home stand in late August.
Startup spirit defines Oakland Ballers’ strategy
“We’re the only Oakland program in the playoff hunt. I love seeing all the fans here.” The setting is intimate, with the field a stone’s throw from the bleachers, which can accommodate about 4,000 people. “The players and fans come through the same entrance, which is intentional,” said Paul Freedman, the Ballers’ co-founder. The owners invested in the new club and ballpark.
Freedman said that if the Ballers leave, the stadium will remain with the people of Oakland. He added that the Ballers recently opened a new round of funding that raised $950,000 in less than a week. For a minimum of $170, fans can purchase shares in the franchise, allowing them to vote on a fan board member and provide input on certain decisions.
This puts the Ballers in the company of other community-owned sports teams in the Bay Area, such as the Oakland Soul, the Oakland Roots, and the San Francisco City FC. As he paced the bleachers at the August game, Scrappy the Possum, the mascot inspired by the possum who found a home in the Coliseum’s visitors’ broadcasting booth, hugged kids and embraced the spirit of Oakland and its resilience. Sitting behind home plate, Babs Wardwell has been an A’s season ticket holder since 1989.
She doesn’t plan on watching them play in Sacramento or Las Vegas. But she will be coming back to Raimondi Park. “It’s nice that there is still a strong community that wants to see baseball,” Wardwell said. She continues, “We didn’t just write off the whole game.”
