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November 15, 2006
Cisco Field: What's in it for Cisco?
SAN JOSE, CA - Yesterday at our headquarters building here in San Jose, our CEO, John Chambers, joined A's owner and managing partner Lew Wolff, Major League Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig, A's President Michael Crowley and A's General Manager Billy Beane in announcing a partnership between Cisco and the A's which would result in a new stadium for the A's in Fremont with the name "Cisco Field." You can watch the full press conference here.
So, what's in it for Cisco? You can read the official Q&A on our website , but my .02 on what it is all about is this: The A's are baseball experts, Cisco is the technology expert. Together, we are like peanut butter and jelly; Reese's peanut butter cups; pumpkin pie and whipped cream; or (if you happen to be Elvis) peanut butter, fried bananas and bacon...together, we make the other better.
From a technology standpoint, we are well aware that not everyone will want new, whiz-bang features at the ballpark, but all of it is entirely "opt-in," so if you want a replay on your handheld device you can get it...however, if you just want the crack of the bat and the smell of recently mowed grass, you can just have that as well.
Cisco obviously sees this as an opportunity to create a technology showcase at a stadium, treat a sports venue/team as an enterprise, and keep a ball club in the Bay Area. Wolff stated that if he couldn't build a new stadium in Alameda county (home of Oakland and Fremont), he would likely have to move the team outside of the state. Cisco happened to have the land that the A's were looking at and we came together to make more than just a land deal. Our CEO likes to say that we partner for life and with a handshake yesterday downstairs from where I write this, he and Lew Woff shook hands on a partnership that will create Cisco Field and keep the A's in California. It was a good day for Cisco, a good day for baseball and a good day for Silicon Valley and the Bay Area.
Posted by John Earnhardt on November 15, 2006 02:15 PM
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