Oakand Sports Group Is Zennie Abraham's Oakland Alameda County Sports Commission With Errors - ATLNews

Oakland Sports Group Is Zennie Abraham's Oakland Alameda County Sports Commission With Errors The Oakland Sports Group is an organization in formation, but headed down the wrong path. Those who pay attention to the matter of Oakland’s need for a sports commission know two things. First, in 1999, I single-handedly started the Oakland Alameda County Sports Commission, a non-profit organization I created that came out of a need to meet the NFL bid requirements so Oakland could host the 2004 or 2005 Super Bowl Game. How that happened is a long story, but I did it the right way. I worked to make it an official, nationally recognized sports commission and I sought the advice of Dean Munro. Dean Munro started the San Jose Sports Commission, now called the San Jose Sports Authority. Long story short, I got the Oakland Alameda County Sports Commission to be officially certified as a nationally recognized sports commission. That’s a big deal because it is a signal to the nation and sports rights holders that Oakland was ready to host most of the over 200 sports events cities can bid on to get. That can translate to crowd-drawing, money-making sports events on television played in Oakland. That’s sports economic development. The reason the Oakland Alameda County Sports Commission did not last was because then Oakland Mayor Jerry Brown was upset that I accused him of racism in trying to get rid of me (as others predicted he would do). Jerry did not think my effort to land the 2005 Super Bowl for Oakland was going anywhere, then we were named a finalist city in June of 2000 with Miami and Jacksonville. Rather than work to make sure I got the monetary resources needed, Jerry worked behind my back to replace me. I know this because the NFL (source name withheld) told me. What Jerry did was the realization of what others said was going to happen to me: that some in Oakland believed that someone white should be in charge of what I was doing. Second, fast forward to today. I have spent a considerable amount of time saying we need a sports commission. I have repeatedly said it at Oakland Coliseum JPA Meetings. Why? Because Oakland has a number of sports facilities that need event-rights holders to use, and the best way to get everything from tennis tournaments to volleyball championships and NFL and MLB and NBA events is to have a sports commission that brings Oakland places and businesses together with the sports events right holder to make the sports industry grow. So, I get this email about the Oakland Sports Group, and it is a press release that says: Today, a collection of lifelong Oakland-based entrepreneurs launched the Oakland Sports Group (OSG), a new advocacy endeavor dedicated to celebrating and strengthening Oakland’s rich and diverse sports culture. OSG’s immediate mission is to support the championship legacy of Oakland’s athletic history by featuring its current sports landscape and venues, with a long-term goal of attracting new opportunities for world-class experiences to Oakland. “Oakland is a city of champions, and will always be a sports town,” said OSG Spokesperson Casey Pratt. “With the Oakland Sports Group, we’re bringing together the key stakeholders, cultural change-makers, and influencers who are committed to The Town. We welcome anyone who loves Oakland as much as we do to join us as we continue to deliver championships, community gathering opportunities, and a chance to create new memories together.” OSG believes that sports have a transformational impact by creating culture, building community, and offering sustainable economic opportunities for all. I was disappointed Casey, who I regarded as a friend, did not reach out or have the people they were working with reach out for advice, and so I told him so. It’s so typically Oakland for one group to think it has the answer and not seek others who are in Oakland and love Oakland and have a history with Oakland. It’s why we do not have a new MLB ballpark or NFL Stadium or NBA Arena. And if you go back in our history, those private groups got us the Raiders, A’s, and Warriors. But today, you need a larger group that’s not insular: the Oakland Sports Group is insular. I don’t see any mention of any intent for it to be a true sports commission. Meanwhile, I talked about the Coliseum JPA forming a sports commission many times, and others like Ray Bobbitt, formed the African American Sports and Entertainment Group. So do we now have this set of different groups because the Oakland Sports Group only talked to its mostly white members? Did Casey learn this from working for recalled Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao? You know? Divide and conquer? We gotta draw together.
via YouTube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yzEMQMd9_FY