Last summer, the Oakland Ballers — a Pioneer League baseball team that played its inaugural season in 2024 — welcomed more than 2,200 fans into its ownership group through a community investment round that raised $1.234 million. On Tuesday, the Ballers announced they opened a second community investment round, intending to raise $2 million. New investors will join an ownership group that now includes Bay Area music legends Too $hort and Green Day’s Billie Joe Armstrong.
“We’re delighted that Too $hort and Billie Joe Armstrong will be joining our ownership group, along with thousands of Oakland fan owners. These two local legends were real supporters in our first season, and it’s great to now have them on board in a more formal capacity,” Ballers co-founder Paul Freedman said in a statement.
The minimum requirement to participate in the round is $510, a nod to Oakland’s area code. As part of the initial investment round, the Ballers became the first U.S. professional franchise to add a fan owner to its board of directors. Fan owners elected Jorge Leon of the Oakland 68s to the board in December. He will serve a two-year term.
The Ballers are gearing up for a second season at Raimondi Park in West Oakland. As they fill out their roster for the 2025 season, the team will hold open tryouts on March 8. Oakland made the Pioneer League playoffs in their inaugural campaign. The 2025 season kicks off on May 20.
“Oakland has produced some of the best athletes and sports fans in the world and the Ballers’ commitment to feeding that competitive fire is exciting for me as an Oakland native,” Too $hort said in a statement. “I’m proud to be joining the Ballers ownership group, and excited for the impact we’re going to have on the community and the overall sports landscape in the Bay Area and beyond!”
Oakland natives Bryan Carmel and Freedman founded the Ballers in response to the Athletics’ announcement that they would leave Oakland for Las Vegas. Through a $1.6 million donation to the city, the Ballers refurbished Raimondi Park, a historic public park in West Oakland where Curt Flood, among others, played youth baseball. The Ballers drew 92,046 fans in 48 home games in 2024.
The Ballers are among an increasing number of professional franchises that have offered their fans opportunities to invest in their teams through community investment rounds. Another Oakland-based sports franchise, the Oakland Roots and Soul Soccer Club, recently closed its second community investment round after raising more than $540,000. In total, the Roots and Soul have raised more than $3.5 million in their two investment rounds.
The Roots will play their 2025 home schedule at the Oakland Coliseum, recently vacated by the Athletics. Opening night is March 22 and Too $hort will perform at the game’s halftime.
“Sports in the Bay Area have been transforming over the last couple of years. We’ve had some emotional goodbyes to teams we grew up with, but recently there has been a major shift,” Armstrong said in a statement. “The Oakland Ballers and the Oakland Roots and Soul represent everything I love and grew up on in the Bay Area. The welcoming atmosphere, DIY attitude and the people behind it make me proud to be an investor and support the next generation of teams kids in the Bay will be proud of.”
Thank you @billiejoe of @GreenDay for supporting us and other local sports groups in Oakland, loved having you! pic.twitter.com/cqpPSFtoWm
— Oakland Ballers (@OaklandBallers) July 7, 2024
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(Top photo of Raimondi Park: Penny Collins / NurPhoto via Associated Press)
