Legends Global, the entertainment firm that has managed the Oakland Arena since 2012, formally asked Oakland and Alameda County on Tuesday to let it buy the building it already runs — for $102.5 million — putting it in direct competition with a deal that city and county officials had been quietly building toward for months.

The bid from Legends Global complicates what had looked like a near-settled transaction: under a term sheet signed last month, the African American Sports and Entertainment Group was set to buy the entire 112-acre Coliseum site, sell the Arena to a third-party buyer for at least $100 million, and use those proceeds to pay the county back in installments. That unnamed third-party buyer, the San Francisco Chronicle reported, was Oak View Group — an entertainment firm founded by music industry veteran Irving Azoff. Now officials face an unsolicited competing offer from the incumbent operator, whose president argues the Arena is first and foremost a civic institution, and that no other company is better positioned to steward it.

For more than a decade, Legends Global has quietly been the operational backbone of Oakland Arena — booking concerts, managing workers, and keeping the lights on after the Golden State Warriors left for San Francisco and the A's decamped to Las Vegas. The company has positioned itself as the hidden success story of an East Bay venue that was supposed to fade after losing its anchor tenants.

Now Legends Global is making that case explicitly — and to the people who hold the keys.

In a letter sent Tuesday to the Oakland City Council and Alameda County Board of Supervisors, Legends Global President Josh Kritzler offered $102.5 million for the Arena and pledged to share a portion of advertising revenue with the city and county if selected. "The decision before you, however, is not solely a financial one; it is about the long-term stewardship of a civic institution that has served this community for nearly 60 years," Kritzler wrote, according to The Oaklandside.

The offer directly challenges a deal that had been taking shape since at least last month, when county officials released a term sheet outlining the path for the African American Sports and Entertainment Group to acquire the broader Coliseum property. Under that structure, AASEG would buy out the county's share of the complex — removing the A's from the picture — and simultaneously sell the Arena to a third party for at least $100 million. The Chronicle reported that third party to be Oak View Group. The Dissent covered the emergence of Oak View's involvement in late May.

Legends Global knows the Arena's books better than almost anyone. The company says that since 2019, the venue has drawn 2.44 million attendees and generated more than $30 million in direct gross sales taxes — and that the Arena's operating deficit fell 97 percent between 2019 and 2023. In his letter, Kritzler argued that no prospective purchaser is "better positioned operationally, financially, or as a community partner" to complete the purchase.

It's a pointed claim, given that Oak View Group — Legends' competitor — is itself a heavyweight. Oak View was founded by Irving Azoff, who spent decades as one of the most powerful figures in the live music business as manager of the Eagles and longtime chairman of Ticketmaster. Oak View has been on an aggressive venue acquisition and development push across the country.

City and county officials have not said publicly how they intend to handle competing offers. Ray Bobbitt, co-founder of AASEG, declined an interview request from The Oaklandside. AASEG has long held the center of Oakland's Coliseum redevelopment vision — the group's pitch has emphasized community benefit, Black-led ownership, and keeping the site anchored to East Oakland's identity.

Whether Legends Global's offer reshuffles the deal or simply introduces leverage into an already complicated negotiation remains to be seen. But the Arena has become, unexpectedly, one of the hottest properties in the Bay Area entertainment market — and the bidding war it has attracted may be the clearest signal yet that Oakland didn't end up with a white elephant when the Warriors left.