Oakland A's and Cisco announce stadium plans

San Jose-based Cisco and the Oakland Athletics this morning officially announced news widely reported last week that the two are working together on plans for a new state-of-the art baseball park to be named "Cisco Field."

The A's struck a deal to buy from Cisco a 143-acre parcel in Fremont, Calif., which would be the future home of the team surrounded by a village complete with housing, restaurants, and shops, A's owner Lew Wolff said in a statement. Separate to this agreement, Cisco would purchase the naming rights in a 30-year deal valued at $4 million annually.

Also under the partnership, Cisco would become "the official technology partner of the A's and Cisco Field," and the A's would purchase Cisco technology to build and support a network supporting data, voice, video and wireless services.

"The A's are more than just a great baseball team, they are a symbol of the Bay Area, and Cisco is proud to play a role in ensuring they continue to call it home," said Cisco President John Chambers in a statement. The A's four World Series flags reportedly flew in front of the company's headquarters, where the deal was announced.

The team, which has played in the Oakland Coliseum for almost four decades, has grown increasingly unhappy with the stadium since it was expanded to accommodate the Oakland Raiders return in the mid-1990s. Prior efforts to build a new baseball-only stadium in Oakland have failed.

It's not the first we've heard from Chambers about the convergence of baseball and technology. At Oracle OpenWorld last month, Chambers gave a demo of what the future ballpark might have in store.