The arena was the home of the Golden State Warriors from 1971 to 2019; for the 1996–97 season, however, the team played at San Jose Arena while Oakland Arena underwent extensive renovations. The California Golden Bears of the Pac-10 played the 1997–98 and 1998–99 seasons at the arena while their primary home, Harmon Gym, was being renovated into Haas Pavilion. For some years before then, the Bears played occasional games against popular non-conference opponents at the arena.

The Oracle Arena has hosted games of the NBA Finals in 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, and 2019, where the Warriors won the NBA championship in 2015, 2017, and 2018. That 2015 title was the first time since 1975 the Warriors won the title; however, Games 2 and 3 of the 1975 NBA Finals were played at the Cow Palace in San Francisco, as the Coliseum was unavailable at the time. The 2017 championship was the first time that a San Francisco-area team won a title in their home venue since the Oakland Athletics in the 1974 World Series.

The arena's first tenants were the California Seals of the Western Hockey League, who moved across the bay from the Cow Palace in 1966. The owners of the San Francisco Seals had been awarded an expansion franchise in the National Hockey League, on the condition they move out of the Cow Palace and into the then-new Oakland Coliseum Arena. The team changed its operating name from San Francisco Seals to California Seals in order to draw fans from both San Francisco and Oakland. The California Golden Seals continued to play at the arena after having transferred to the NHL, until the team moved to Cleveland after the 1975–76 NHL season.

The Coliseum hosted the American Basketball Association's Oakland Oaks (1967–1969), a charter member of the new ABA in 1967. The Oaks signed San Francisco Warriors star Rick Barry away from the rival National Basketball Association in 1968. The team was owned by entertainer Pat Boone and also had stars Larry Brown and Doug Moe on its roster. Brown and Barry are in the Basketball Hall of Fame. After a 22–56 record in their first season, the Oaks went 60–18 during the regular season in 1968–69. The Oaks then defeated the Denver Rockets, New Orleans Buccaneers and finally the Indiana Pacers in the playoffs to capture the ABA Championship. However, the team was plagued by poor attendance and Boone sold the team following their ABA Championship. They were relocated to Washington and became the Washington Caps.

The Bay Bombers (Roller Derby, 1966–1973) as well as the Golden Bay Earthquakes of the original MISL during the 1982–83 season and the Oakland Skates, a professional roller hockey team active from 1993 to 1995, all played there. WWE also holds professional wrestling shows at the arena.

In 2020, the Oakland Panthers of the Indoor Football League, co-owned by NFL All-Pro and Oakland native Marshawn Lynch, were to begin play at the Oakland Arena. Due to the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Panthers postponed its start to 2022 and by August 2021, the Panthers announced they would instead play in San Jose as the Bay Area Panthers beginning with the 2022 season citing the uncertainty of the arena's future.

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