Olympic gold medalist and USA Swimming Board of Directors President Elect Natalie Coughlin has joined the ownership group of the Oakland Ballers baseball team. The Ballers are an independent baseball team that plays in the Pioneer League and began competition in 2024.
The team was formed in response to the Oakland A’s highly-controversial planned move to Las Vegas. The A’s will spend the next two seasons playing in West Sacramento, California in a 14,000-seat Minor League stadium.
The Ballers will play at Raimondi Park in West Oakland, which has a capacity of 4,000 fans. As an independent league team, the team is not part of the Minor League Baseball model that serves as a farm system for Major League Baseball teams.
The team was originally announced with a fan ownership model, using a crowdfunding campaign and the non-profit Oakland 68s organization to raise more than $2 million. This grassroots model was used successfully for the Oakland Roots SC professional soccer team that currently plays in the second division of American soccer, the USL Championship.
More recently, the team has welcomed a number of celebrities to its ownership group, including actor Blair Underwood.
“As a Bay Area native who grew up cheering for the Raiders, A’s, and Warriors, it’s heartbreaking to see Oakland lose team after team,” Coughlin said. “But the city’s love for sports has never wavered, and that’s why I’m so excited to support the Oakland Ballers. Oakland deserves teams that are committed to this community, and I can’t wait to see the Ballers bring that passion back to The Town!”
The Oakland A’s struggled with attendance for most of their history in the city, and averaged just 11,500 in their last season in the city. The Ballers are using a similar color scheme and iconography to the Athletics, including a logo with a stylized “B’s” reminiscent of the A’s logo.
Coughlin was born and raised in nearby Vallejo, California, about 30 minutes north of Oakland. She then swam collegiately and trained professionally at Cal in Berkeley, just a few miles north of the city.
One of the most-decorated swimmers in history, Coughlin has 12 Olympic medals, including three Olympic golds. She won back-to-back Olympic crowns in the 100 backstroke in 2004 and 2008, and is also a 10-time World Champion.
She set World Records in five different events (including multiple times in some) and became the first woman in history to break the historic one minute barrier in the 100 meter backstroke.
Coughlin’s last major meet was the 2016 Olympic Trials, though she never formally announced a retirement.
Coughlin and her husband, swim coach Ethan Hall, have one daughter, Zennie Mae Hall, born in 2018, and one son Ozzie, born in 2020.
Who has gotten screwed more? A’s fans or cal poly swimmers?
Coughin BEEN goated, more confirmation
The Oakland B’s. Cute.
It’s nice to see Natalie Coughlin still representing swimming in a good way.
I hope we see more of this tbh