Oakland Ballers Rebrand as Oaksterdam Blazers for July 31 Cannabis Night

1 articles · Updated · Fox News · Jul 23

July 31 will bring a cannabis-themed “Grateful Dead Night” at Oakland’s Raimondi Park, where the independent-league Ballers plan to play as the Oaksterdam Blazers in a one-game rebrand.
An April Fools’ joke became a real promotion after strong fan response, and the club says the event will be the first live professional baseball game to formally celebrate the legal cannabis industry.
Oaksterdam University is partnering on the event, including a 10 a.m. PT dispensary stop and lounge crawl for adults 21 and older, while any cannabis-related ballpark activations will be opt-in and age-verified.
The team is pitching the game as family-friendly even as it centers cannabis, a claim echoed by Oaksterdam University, which called it America’s first family-friendly cannabis industry event.
The promotion fits Oakland’s long role in marijuana legalization, though similar sports tie-ins already exist: the Portland Pickles sold THC products at a 2024 game, and MLB signed a CBD sponsorship in 2022.