In mid-November, the A’s were officially granted approval from MLB to relocate to Las Vegas. Their planned 33,000-seat stadium on the Vegas strip won’t be ready until 2028. With the team’s lease at the Coliseum in Oakland expiring at the end of next season, they’re still sorting through possibilities for the intervening three years.
A handful of options are on the table. Team president Dave Kaval has floated the possibility of a short-term lease extension at the Coliseum, but that’d require approval from Oakland officials. Given the broken relationship between the organization and city, that seems unlikely. Reports have suggested city officials could condition a lease extension on the franchise leaving the A’s moniker behind, which would be a non-starter for the organization. Other options include sharing Oracle Park with the Giants or playing at their Triple-A affiliate’s field in Summerlin, Nevada.
John Shea of the San Francisco Chronicle added a fourth possibility this morning, reporting that the A’s are considering Sacramento’s Sutter Health Park. That’s also a Triple-A venue — in this case, the home of the Giants affiliate, the River Cats.
One of the factors for the A’s is their local broadcasting contract. Their TV rights deal with NBC Sports California runs through 2033. The A’s lose those broadcasting revenues once they depart the Bay Area. If they’re hoping to retain the revenues between 2025-27, they’d need to find a park in the area.
A lease extension at the Coliseum or an agreement to share Oracle Park would meet that criterion. Shea notes that Sacramento, on the other hand, is outside the bounds of their contract. However, he reports the sides could renegotiate the deal at a lesser value if the A’s were to land in Sacramento. A new agreement could allow the A’s to continue receiving some portion of the revenue while getting the network off the hook for a chunk of the money which they wouldn’t be able to shed if the A’s stayed in Oakland or San Francisco until 2028.
While the broadcasting situation remains uncertain, the organization has ensured another key revenue source. The collective bargaining agreement provided that the A’s would lose their status as a revenue sharing recipient if they didn’t reach a binding stadium agreement by today. Mick Akers of the Las Vegas Review-Journal confirmed earlier this month the stadium deal is sufficient to maintain revenue sharing. That’s despite the fact that community benefits and lease agreements technically still need to be finalized for the A’s to receive their $380MM in agreed-upon public funding for the park’s construction.
Seems almost guaranteed because of the tv deal they will be playing here one would think. This cheap owner I don’t see leaving that money on the table while having to pay up to Oakland and Las Vegas for the new stadium.
What a damn mess!
@Cincy fan
Yes, it is a damn mess. Fisher has pushed the A’s, the City, MLB, into this corner, and I hope he can’t raise the funding for Vegas. Regardless of one’s personal politics, I can’t see what more the Oakland mayor could have done with regards to raising revenue for the infrastructure around the Howard terminal plan.
And the idea of Vegas to me is revolting.
Sacramento will welcome the Oakland A’s and attendance will far surpass how the team does in Oakland. As long as the A’s make some stadium upgrades, that should offset a slight decline in attendance for the Rivercats for the one season. The RiverCats may have to reschedule a few games, but this is a win-win option for Sacramento and the A’s. Let’s go Sacramento A’s – few other places would embrace a temporary team – and one of this quality – with such enthusiasm.
The A’s averaged 10,275 fans per game in 2023. Sutter Health Park has 10,624 seats and room for another 3500 max on the grass. Will be hard to far surpass unless they can figure out how to put in a lot more seats really cheap. As much as I’d love to see them in Sacramento, I suspect the A’s will try hard for the Oracle Park solution because of both capacity and the TV contract.
Wouldn’t the best solution for the city of Oakland allowing the A’s to play in that dump of a coliseum for a few more years?
They’d at least collect rent and get some additional tax revenue. I find it highly unlikely that they’ll tear the thing down and build something of use in that time period anyway. Seems like a better use of the rotting stadium.
Aside from wanting to put the screws to Fisher for the way he handled this—why not extend them? Oak really needs to stay for a few years so you’d think the city could get themselves a decent short term deal
@Brian Strowman
Genuinely appreciate the constructive point with the “glorious” colisseum. I think one of issues is that the A’s were sold 50% of that site, with the idea of redeveloping that. I might be wrong with this, so those that know better please flame away….
I also think the A’s got a good price on that 50%
Rejected, the City then transferred attention to the terminal, raised a budget for costs and revenue ..
As soon as Vegas the child playground started licking Fisher’s balls we were
gone. I appreciate the shenanigans in KC in the 60s were really poor. But this is now. Not the 58 Dodgers to LA or the Giants. Now. And frankly every little under top 10 team has this constant threat.
@Brian the biggest obstacle I think for any extension for the coliseum is that the city has pretty much stated that they want the rights to the name the Athletics for any such agreement.
Thus far all I’ve seen is that they play to remain the Athletics in Las Vegas, as they did in Oakland, after having previously been. The Kansas City and Philadelphia Athletics formerly.
So I don’t see the coliseum as being anything but a last option for the team. If they want to keep the name but the city wants the name in return, my guess is they’ll look at every avenue before agreeing to give up their team name.
You would think they’d want to keep any extra revenue they could before the team goes, but as the article said, they aren’t exactly happy with each other as a result of the situation. If I had to guess, if no other options can be reached that keep them somewhere they can still get some of their tv deal, they likely just land in Vegas at their triple a affiliate for the meantime.
After a very brief review of certain (California) laws and I Am Not A Lawyer, it appears to me that if Oakland and/or Alameda County can viably say they’re going to put the land to public use (like, say, public housing projects), they have strong case to pull off an Eminent Domain seizure.
Right. the city is playing hardball for the team name but at this point, what good is that?
I don’t think Oakland is 1st in line for an expansion team. It seems like you’re spiting yourself the ability to get additional tax revenue at this point. I’d think eventually they’d drop the stance for the name and just try to give Fisher the worst deal they can.
I don’t think he wants to lose his TV money. The city of Oakland has a rotting useless stadium when the A’s leave. Why not suck a few more dollars out of them before they go?
Eventually the Colliseum will be leveled and reused for something. But with the way politics work—thatll be after 2028 anyway.
With the current lease and the current attendance they (city and county) weren’t actually making money off the games.
They’d prefer to get the A’s out of the way so they can actually do something with the land.
@Brian
Am mildly intrigued as to where your team (???) is involved here?
If Fisher has indeed managed to buy 50% of the Colisseum and is going to eff off with a profit, I feel that is dirty. That is what I understand at present.
Vegas will be a nightmare. It’ll cost everyone else a lot more in “balance” than Oakland. As an A’s fan, we’ll be an away fan in our own stadium. Sweet if you don’t care about the A’s. But if my team can be taken, yours, unless yours are a top ten team, can go too.
If this was UK football (soccer) there would be an outrage. See Wimbledon & MK Don’s. Face it, right now who couldn’t move? The NYY, Cubs, Dodgers, Red Sox, Cards. The rest of you are up to other people’s whimsy…
That’s like getting dumped and then letting your ex girlfriend and her new boyfriend stay in your guest room to help cover utilities
Intrigued by the thoughtful commentary here. Has there been a reboot? Now under new management? That last AsfaninUK was a bit of bozo, no?
There’s no way just teams you mentioned are not likely to ever move Tigers have to be on that list.plus i doubt most teams will ever move.Most teams don’t have issues like in oakland and Tampa did with getting new stadium.
@Theo
As the London A’s fan I’ve been repeatedly mistaken for AsfaninUK. The only A’s fan I’ve muted because he was an absolute tool. I’ve been on MLBTR for about 7 years, but generally keep fairly quiet because….
1) I’m English and know next to nothing about baseball…
C) My good lady European wife despises sport with the exception of baseball. Beer and friendly fans help on our travels…
2B) I pick favourite jigsaw pieces. 68 Tigers. 61 Yankees. 81 Dodgers. 02 Angels. Anything Willie Mays.. I know lots about 6 of the 1000 pieces, so wise to keep quiet most of the time!
@CCTL yeah—I was saying that if they can strike a deal where the costs are less than the revenue they’d bring in—go do it. I don’t believe the land in Oakland which the stadium is built upon is a hot commodity right now.
I’d make Fisher pay to keep the stadium in working order while he plays here since we’re talking about a new lease. That might be an impossible hurdle scenario and there’s 2 conflicting ego’s here.
It’s 130 acres of mostly bare asphalt on which badly needed housing could be built. That’s absolutely more valuable in the long run to the city and county.
@Tigers fan82
Yeah, I agree about the Tigers. Really enjoyed my trip there in 2013 for the ALDS. Probably 10 of 30 could be moved rather than my over emotive comment.
@CCTL
Yeah, im sure there’s a better use for the stadium land it will be utilized long term.
I just don’t believe, with the way politics go, that anything will break ground for years. In the meantime, that site will probably be a vacant empty stadium.
Literally the A’s and Rays are the ONLY teams that have a chance at relocation. Nobody else is has the stadium and/or market issues that they do. You really need to pay more attention to MLB as a whole before saying something so stupid.
Aha. What part of London are you?
@Theo
The deep north…
Finchley!
Spurs or Gooners? Camdenton and Islington are my fave hangouts
@Theo – neither- the mighty Coventry City, my home town …
Think the Angels will stay in Anaheim? Need a new stadium and Moreno has flirted with selling?
The lamd of the Specials- great kit- I’m gonna search for the two tone one on my next visit
I am also a Reds fan. and it is a damn mess. Oakland fans deserve better.
I’ll go to Sacramento to see a game. I’ve never gone to the Colosseum and never will. Heck, I won’t go to San Francisco anymore.
Where do you live? Orange County? Why would you not include that information in your comment?
Santa Ana & Tustin is not the same OC as Laguna Beach or Newport or Anaheim Hills. All Orange County isn’t even remotely created equal. I’ve lived in fringe Costa Mesa, as well as Dana Point. I know.
Orange County or Laguna Beach? The CW network?
Which one had the fun but annoying Kristin C?
Theo, they all look and sound so much alike that it’s hard to keep track. I think Kristin was married to former Bears QB Jay Cutler though. Not the Mr. Olympia..
Trumbo – You are so right. I grew up in Irvine but lived in Costa Mesa, Newport, Huntington, Anaheim, Corona Del Mar, San Clemente and Garden Grove, as a young adult. I spent my last 15 years in Anaheim Hills and Yorba Linda before escaping CA. There is a wide spectrum throughout OC…very diverse county.
Yaas Kristin – who hails from a tony Chicago suburb of Barrington was a big hit til Jay totally upended their E reality show by being like every guy ever in the midst of a Diva and her friends. Fun show tho
Truth. Sacramento is less than a two hour drive.
And this is the internet, general locations are appropriate.
2 hour drive from where to where Halo?
From my house to downtown Sacramento.
Halo 11 lol You reside in OC amigo? Or up North?
Halo – you live in Nevada, right?
Halo,
I live on the east coast and I’ve been to the Coliseum and Oracle multiple times. It’s weird to go out of your way to say you specifically won’t go to a park. Like some have said, very dog whistle vibes. Relax, it’s baseball and baseball is fun! It’s enjoyable at any and every park.
Oh wow, thanks for informing the world halofan that you never have and never will. We can all sleep better tonight.
Dog whistle from Orange County.
According to Condé Nast Traveler, San Francisco ranked as the 5th most visited U.S. cities in 2022. But you do you.
trade.gov/data-visualization/us-states-cities-visi…
And first in deuce dropping
The only dummies who complain about california have vistied once, live in like central tennesse and are poor.
California is fine, please dont come.
bkbk – Now that’s funny. I was born and raised in CA and moved to “Middle” Tennessee 13 years ago. Forbes ranked Williamson County the wealthiest county in the US a few years back, which is the county just south of Nashville and the heart of MT.
It seems only dummies who have never visited Tennessee think people in Middle Tennessee are poor.
and BTW:
“The only dummies who complain about california have vistied once, live in like central tennesse and are poor.
California is fine, please dont come.”
If you’re going to call people dumb, you might want to proof read for spelling and punctuation errors. Otherwise you look…dumb.
Yah stop picking on Tennessee they is good people. Even though they wear Orange. As they say in SEC land: nothing sucks like a big Orange
Theo – Actually there are a lot of “Tennesseans” wearing either Angels red or Dodgers blue. We call it Orange County East.
Contrary to what Andy Kaufman says, they know what soap is in Tennessee. Jerry Lawler was in on the joke
What part, find Nashvillle little too silly and tacky, but Memphis and Knoxville are the real deal. And who doesn’t enjoy them some Chattaboogie. Still have my Lookouts cap from a road trip there while on assignment in B’ham.
Those are the people who couldn’t afford to live in CA anymore.
I hear that explanation a lot from California “never leavers” because It makes them feel better about themselves. In reality, everyone I know who has left California did so because of the political environment and moral bankruptcy of the state we all love.
I’m just saying the reality is if all things were equal, most of those people would choose to live on a mountain or a beach in CA instead of a town in TN (nothing against TN). They just had to make a financial decision, which makes sense. If people want to move out because of politics or morals, more power to them. I promise you though, there are no perfect places. Everything is a tradeoff.
100% agree. If all things were equal, I would be living on a beach right now. I lived on Balboa Peninsula and Mission Bay at various times so I know how great it is. But the political environment and lack of morality in California drove us and others to leave our home state. I now have a horse farm in Tennessee instead of a beach with a better environment to raise my family. So it was a good trade.
Sightseeing the homeless and street life are a form of tourism now. Congrats
Thick, it is the ancillary effects of “the homeless” that is an issue. Not merely “homeless” people per-se. Once you are relegated to living on the street, the war is already lost. I feel for the people that have had to resort to such, and do not wish any city to become a sutained haven for such despair.
**sustained
I spent a night in San Fran a couple of years ago. I pretty much wrote if off then, now I hear it’s much much worse.
I’m convinced conservatives are just scared of tall buildings
@Halos11Fan Ah, the wanton idiocy of believing D*m*cr*ts are ‘the left’ when they don’t have a single member of Congress whose voting record would quality as even slightly left of center on the objective political spectrum.
Too many people not exactly like you scare you? Poor baby.
fffbbb, I wouldn’t go near San Francisco if someone gave me $30,000 to do it. The city is a disgrace.
In San Francisco’s defense I took my elderly mom and my 4 kids to the bay parking close to the stadium I didn’t see one homeless person I don’t think it was all very clean around the stadium which makes sense. They at least seem to be a priority to the city watching others flee, they do a great job around that park keeping it clean and honoring what a truly great stadium it is. I don’t live there btw I commute to games.
Go wherever you want but please don’t come to Dallas. Already too many people here and too many Californians moving here. I wish gov Abbott would put a border wall up around Dallas and keep people out until at least more roads could be built.
Uh, no need to worry. Noone wants to go to Dallas. Texans laugh at Dallas. And Abbott and Ted Cruz more generally. But that’s another dissertation
Ted Cruz should change his name to Costello so those 2 clowns could reprise Who’s on First. But that’s another zine entry.
I’m sorry A’s fans. What a debacle of a situation.
There are actual A’s fans out there?
There are A’s fans. There were a lot a hard-core fans there when they were competitive. But when you give the fans no reason to show up, they won’t. As a former Chargers fan I can relate to the A’s fans.
As get a lot of hate right now but they were the Rays 10 years ago, when everyone was blasting them for being cheap and sucking, in terms of quality ran organizations
Dude the Rays went to the Series in 2008
Okay my timeline was a little off but the decade before that WA they were the laughing stock of the league
Yeah the Rays were a virtual non entity in the 40s and 50s
A’s fans deserve better. Any teams fans would deserve better!
A’s fans don’t exist
Harsh MadBum, harsh..
There are a few thousand them. They’re mostly over 60, very loyal, loud, and extremely entitled.
Seam, sounds like a solid crop of fans to me.
Entitled to what? Having a team? Passionate doesn’t mean “entitled”. This is the same team that drew 54,000+ fans to the 2019 WC team. Still bottom 10 in payroll, all we needed was a good team.
Don’t get it wrong. This is a league problem, not a fan problem.
All this would have been solved if not for the greedy Giants. San Jose would have been a GREAT home for the A’s just down the freeway. Lots of families, clean city, sports fans everywhere. But NO the Giants have insisted that a city 55 miles from San Francisco is in their territory. Total BS if you ask me. Would be like the Dodgers claiming Orange County. Even worse actually since OC is only 35 miles down the freeway from Dodger Stadium.
Entitled? This must be auto correct or you couldn’t be any further from the truth. Calling A’s fans, who for years would go to games, in that declining crapbox stadium (many still love it regardless, I do), watch fan favorites come and go, the largest contract being handed out being 66 million to Eric Chavez which doesn’t even match 1 year of Ohtani’s deferred payments of 68 million from 2034-2043, are entitled?!
A’s fans stopped showing up almost completely when it was clear Fisher had no desire to stay, when he’d shipped off the fan favorites yet again in another fire sale, and then steeply raised prices on tickets.
In all of this, all the fans want is just a commitment for the team to stay, and to keep some players. I don’t think any A’s fan ever expected to spend like Dodgers are now, even like Giants across the bay. But do they want to see a guy called up and think hey maybe 6 years from now this guy still might be on the team? Would be nice. Or to know the team would still be in Oakland 10 years from now. Would be nice. That’s entitled?!
OG A’s fans have PRIDE!!!!!
OG A’s fans are in Philadelphia. Or they would be, if any of them were still alive.
They weren’t showing up before Fisher. No desire to make a statement and keep the team in Oakland. All A’s fans did was give Fisher what he may have wanted all along.
The kick in the nads is San Jose used to be Oakland’s territory but they gave it to San Francisco so they could build what’s now called Oracle Park. POS Giants just won’t give it back.
Sounds like a skill issue. Should have attended more games.
Isn’t that an exact description of the MLBTradeRumours readership: mostly over 60. Loud. Extremely entitled.
54k ok but the As have actually done much better than that. The As drew close to a million I think one season. Over 80 games not too shabbie
Oaktown fans are neat. Frisco fans are effete.
Attendance was $26k/game when Fisher bought the team in 2005. Middle of the pack attendance for a secondary team in a big market, competing with a team with a brand new stadium across the Bay? That’s pretty good all things considered. Fisher just needed to not run the team straight into the ground….alas that’s exactly what he did.
26K per game for a perennial contender with a massive stadium is not something to brag about. A’s made the postseason 2000-03, almost made it 2004 and you’re bragging about 26K?
They deserved better. This is on the fans, or lack thereof, not the owner.
How about we examine a little something called “evidence”?
Fisher bought the team in 2005. Here’s the A’s attendance:
2001: 19th
2002: 18th
2003: 17th
2004: 19th
2005: 19th
2006: 26th
2007: 26th
2008: 27th
2009: 30th
2010: 29th
2011: 30th
2012: 27th
2013; 23rd
2014: 24th
2015: 27th
2016: 29th
2017: 29th
2018: 27th
2019: 24th
2020: N/A
2021: 29th with partial capacity games until May
2022: 30th
2023: 30th
When do you notice that number fall from the 17th-19th range to the 23rd-30th range? The year after he bought the team. And yes, while 19th is still below-average, you don’t see anyone calling for the relocation of MIN, AZ, WAS, DET, PIT or anyone else below 19th, do you?
Also, this is a franchise that’s used to not having stars or any sort of organizational stability outside of A) until now, the Coliseum and B) Fisher
Any franchise would lose attendance if they were run like we are. Look up the movie “Major League”. It’s remarkably similar.
You’re supposed to sell out a wild card game.
SMH….
Your numbers prove Oakland does not care about the A’s. You articulated my point. Thank you.
Stop blaming ownership. That’s nearly 20 years of people not caring. Leave Oakland for a fanbase that will adequately support a team.
Heck blame the 49ers! Somehow, the Niners made Santa Clara/San Jose a part of San Francisco!
They exist. Plenty of A’s fans here. More Giants fans, but plenty of A’s fans.
We exist, there are dozens of us. Dozens!
Bakers Dozens!!
Mitts off those donuts. Those are Dusty’s dozens
I can’t believe the A’s fans would maintain loyalty to their team. It reminds me of the Brooklyn Dodgers or NY Giants when they left the City… many of their fans turned to Yankees or the newly minted Amazin’ Mets because they felt betrayed (understandably).
Now, although this occurred decades before I was even a twinkle in my dad’s eye, I heard all about it from them, and how devastated the fans were in the City.
What a shame that this owner is doing this with a legacy team like the A’s… (I understand OAK was not their first city, but the late-60s-70’s A’s made OAK their true home,imho).
@Clip I still sometimes wear my throwback NY Highlanders cap. Nobody knows what it is. Never forget. Lol.
Clip, your post was solid. Spot on. I am curious..What do you think of the Rams moving back to LA, and what do you think of the Chargers moving down to LA from their hardcore fan base in SD? Obviously the word of the day is “loyalty” and fans feelings etc. I can’t find a contemporary baseball analogy, so football is all I got. Just curious as to your thoughts brother.
Oh man, what a curveball! So, in short, I feel the same way about the Chargers move. They had a good fanbase there, beautiful weather, and I really didn’t see that move as necessary. But, at least it’s still in-state.
Now, the Rams are a different story to me because when I started watching football, I had almost always known them as the STL Rams. But they were in Cali in the early 90s as I recall(?). I don’t get the move away from STL, especially since they brought a Super Bowl victory to that city, but moving back to LA I would analogize as the Raiders moving from Oakland to LA and wherever else they moved before Vegas.
In short, I guess I don’t see that movement as a good thing for sports. I don’t see why fans root for teams that will uproot and abandon them either. I couldn’t do that. I’m still not happy the Giants play in NJ!
But, at least Chicago still throws down in Soldier Field.
I appreciate the reply, Clip. I wish I could have thought up a similar baseball analogy, but I didn’t want to wind back the clock 50 or 60 years. I only realized/found out recently that the Giants play in NJ. It is beyond blasphemous. Everything you said makes sense. The end result seems to be that the fans always get the shaft/short end of the stick…That is my main takeaway Clip.
dude the expos left Montreal in ’05, not fifty years ago, ’94 strike destroyed that team, I think alot of fans forget this is a business, and the owners are passionate about money, not players, gonna be back to the A’s, they’ve always been run by cheapskates, when they were in Philly, there is a quote from Connie mack, which he likes his team to play well but then finish in about 8th place, this way people will come watch, but then he doesn’t have to pay the player bonuses for winning and finishing higher, never forget this is about money, not your passion, this is why us fans don’t understand what these owners are thinking and doing, we have different goals
Hey Trumbo and Clipper – An unsolicited chime in: I’ve never seen a more loyal and passionate fanbase than when I lived in San Diego. People had Chargers bolts plastered everywhere and Jerseys were worn as regular attire. I did a market launch there with the company I was with at the time. We had a couple of retired Chargers quarterbacks sign autographs and the line was wrapped around. When I heard they were leaving SD, I felt really badly for the fans.
That’s a really cool story, Prov. It amazes me that they can make moves in spite of such loyal fans. I get that it’s about money, but it’s not like they’re going to develop more loyalty by moving away in most cases. I don’t get it, honestly.
That’s a lot of thinking. Hope Clip is sitting down for that. Preferably on the porcelain throne
The line was wrapped around Chargers quarterbacks? No wonder they were retired. Insufficent pass block protection.
Manfred has been a not so good Commissioner.
This A’s debacle takes the cake though. Amateur hour.
It’s not going to feel the same at all once the Athletics leave Oakland. Such a shame. And to think just four years ago or so, they were one of the best teams around.
Oakland is already that franchise’s third home. Read up once on how they got there. One of the nastiest, most under handed power plays in American sports, so bad that MLB had to create the Royals a couple years later to pay back the people of Kansas City.
Good old Charlie Finley.
Pinstriped, very true!
Thank you for not trolling unlike most of the Yankees fans here. Respect.
Sorry to be random as usual, but does anyone know what is going on with the “Mute” situation? Is it not a feature on here anymore?
It’s broken but I’m still able to mute new posters not on my mute list.
I don’t know. I’ve never muted anyone. I’d rather have conversation with people, whether we agree on things or not.
Cincy, it gets pretty tedious and arduous to hear some of the same dreck repeated by the usual suspects one day after the next. The mute button is a major convienence to many. Especially with some of the new folk that have infiltated and polluted these threads. I just wanna know what the situation is. The button still appears, yet it does not work. Just curious, friend.
**infiltrated**
I understand how the city of Oakland is salty toward the team, but I would think that having the A’s stay for a little while longer would be in the city’s interests.
It takes two to tango. Fisher even blocked the A’s own minor league AAA affiliate from playing ONE lone game this summer at the Coliseum.
YBC, I hadn’t heard about that..That sounds nutty nuts haha What was that all about?? Do I gotta google it? I know it might be complex.
@Trumbo Yeah look it up, man. It just made me sad how terrible Fisher is.
YBC, I will. Thanks for the info.
That’s not exactly true. It wasn’t their AAA team they blocked, it was a new professional team in Oakland that will be starting up next year. The Oakland Ballers, and they’ll be playing in the Pioneer League. But still a real embarrassing move by the A’s to block them from playing 1 game at the Coliseum.
@JoeRudi You’re correct.
Exactly. Hosting Monster Jam once a year isn’t going to keep the lights on at the Coliseum.
Yes, the media may be overstating the effect animosity will have on getting a deal done. Tax revenue, jobs and a few more years of an outlet for local fans are good reasons to keep the team around.
The Coliseum Authority said that it costs $7 million annually to maintain the facility and put on the games and the A’s pay only $1.25 million in lease payments.
I’m guessing that was fairly negotiated by some stupid Colosseum Authority committee. Hopefully they would want more for an extension.
Sacramento AAAA’s games will be lit yo
You know what would be funny is seeing the Rivercats out draw the A’s in Sacramento.
@websoulsurfer
from the info I gathered, Sacramento averaged around 50% attendance in 2023. Nearly 5,200 a game out of 10,200 capacity.
Oakland averaged just over 10,000 a game last year out of a 46,000 capacity. So barely over 20%. Considering most MiLB games can get a bit empty on early weekdays, I’m quite certain there were many weekend nights where Sacramento had higher capacity than a lot of Oakland games.
If the city of Oakland chooses to not extend the lease for a few years out of spite, and would rather just have an empty Coliseum making no money, it’s just more confirmation that the leadership in that city is entirely incompetent.
I agree, but I do wonder if this is just posturing. Might be city officials holding leverage to keep the A’s moniker in Oakland for a potential expansion team down the road.
I have hesitation in general saying a city is at fault when they lose a team, even Oakland about to lost its third professional team in a very short span. Obviously there are benefits to the city and its people for having a professional team around but it needs to make sense for everyone, and fans need to remember this is spending hundreds of millions to build a ballpark for a billionaire so their business can make millions… all that said, coming back to your comment it would be a waste to just have that ballpark sit empty come 2025 for a few years.
There is no way that Oakland will ever get an expansion team.
Theyll raze the Coliseum to the ground and build condo towers. Hate that it’s true but the area that once was Candlestick Park, formerly the home of the 49ers, doesnt look half bad these days…
It would not be out of spite, it would be to save money. Nearly $6 million per year. It costs more to allow the A’s to play there than they pay for their lease now.
The current lease expires this year. For a MLB team, even the A’s, $7mm is not a major expense. Raise the rent in an extension. It would be a new contract.
I lived in Sacramento when that stadium opened and spent many a summer evening there. It is really nice and would often out draw the big league club.
I feel bad for A’s fans. I’m sure Vegas will embrace them and I know I’ll go to some games over there. But wow Oakland lost the Raiders, A’s, and Warriors within a few years.
The As don’t even have a stadium plan or approved deal in place in Vegas. Seems weird that they can’t really get moving on anything.
It’s almost as if the owner is a buffoon.
They should play in a minor league park since they are nothing more then a triple AAA team at this point.
Playing as many games @ Oracle as possible would make the most sense, right? Doesn’t the most thought need to be extended to the fans that attend the games?
Not to mention that Oracle is absolutely beautiful! The A’s players are going to love playing there instead.
One of a few stadiums I really want to visit. Always loved it since watching Bonds destroy baseballs into the bay.
Clip, if I ever get the opportunity to travel at will, visiting all 30 ballparks or however many it is now is at the very top of my list!
Yes! My young son and I spoke about doing that when he’s a bit older and I’m able to retire for good. We want to follow the Yankees around and watch at least one game (or series) in each stadium (well, I think I’ll skip the A’s though).
That would be such an awesome time, Trumbo. Nothing beats beautiful weather and baseball!
That is how to live, Clip!!!! When he gets drafted out of HS you may have to settle for following him on the road though for a bit until he is playing in the Bronx amigo!!
Oh, man, don’t I wish. He’s got the talent base to be good and he’s a natural lefty, so he’s got that nice lefty swing. But getting drafted? Man, I hope so because he loves baseball, but I already warned him that the odds are very, very against him, just by the sheer nature of professional sports competition. We are friends with a couple ML coaches though, So they give him some good advice.
I remember you mentioning that you were pals with a few coaches. From one full blown lefty to another, you tell him to always run 100% of the time and to swing hard with no regrets! Coaches, Scouts, EVERYONE expect more out of Lefties. They have a lot on their shoulders.
@clip
Yeah, that’d definitely be the best path forward.
I don’t know how feasible that is with the Giants playing there and the venue being used for other things. I’m sure there’s a number that makes sense but MLB would have to help scheduling wise.
Truly FUBAR….
3 years in Mexico City would be best. 20,000 seat stadium, a whole country to tv broadcast to. Would also give MLB an opportunity to test the market for potential expansion.
P.S. billlj, I think an MLB team in Mexico would be a great idea for an expansion team regardless.
Monterrey might be better. Lower elevation and shorter plane flights if you have a charter that is non-stop.
Billlj, That is so crazy it might work! Way to think outside the box amigo! Solid idea!
I will share the Oracle for sure!
That’s a nice park! Downtown, close to the river.
The spoon isn’t there..
Al Davis’s role in making the Coliseum (even) worse for baseball feels overlooked in this. The stadium used to have a view of the hills. Then “Mt. Davis” was constructed blocking the view. All so the Raiders would have more seats that they ultimately couldn’t sell anyway.
Ironic that both the Raiders and A’s wind up in Las Vegas.
If the Giants aren’t willing to share their stadium with the A’s for 3 years why does Shea think they would be willing to share their AAA stadium with them? I think ultimately they will end up signing an extension in Oakland til the stadium in Vegas is ready. What kind of Faustian bargain Manfred is going to have to make with the city to make that happen is anyone’s guess
Manfred or Fisher would have to pony up at least another $6 million per season so that the city of Oakland was not losing money by allowing the A’s to continue to play there for 3-4 more years.
People also need to realize that the A’s have neither financing in place to build a ballpark in Las Vegas, nor any of the money from the state and county that they would need to build it. They may never get that money either. It’s tied up in courts right now.
Wow, I would love that. That stadium is about 15 minutes from my place. I would go to many more games.
Same here right down 50 for me!
They had 86 wins in 2021, terrible owner, key free agents leaving and lousy rebuild trades. Complete spiral of a organization the last 2 seasons, I’m pretty much done as a fan, whether they play in Sacramento and Las Vegas later on
I hope they go to sacramento as someone who goes to an Oakland games the area around the park and the city are a mess. Homeless camps everywhere; crime is very high. Not a great place to take people for a game.
As fans probably aren’t going to want to travel to a new city to support the team that’s out the door – and rightly so.
What I’d like to see, but would never happen, is they try having the team hosted in a city that’s potentially up for an expansion franchise.
Give the locals a taste of mlb, see how many come out and support things. I feel like a similar situation happened in the NBA where a team was temporarily hosted there, and, the city showed such good support it won an expansion franchise.
Anyone know if I’m remembering that right?
GASox, Almost like “The Mighty Ducks!”
The N.O. Hornets played in OKC following Hurricane Katrina and OKC wound up with a franchise (the Thunder). It wasn’t an expansion team though. A rich Okie Family bought the Seattle Sonics and moved it to OKC ostensibly because of “arena issues” in Seattle. OKC did prove that NBA fan support was there and they got a new tax funded arena.
I think that’s challenging for a MLB team though. Unless the Titans or Panthers reconfigured their stadium and allowed the baseball team to use—it’d be tough to gauge w/out capacity
Think outside the box. Jerry Richardson Stadium (UNC Charlotte) has secured the majority of the funding necessary to complete its master plan of doubling peak capacity to upwards of 35-40,000 seats before 2025 between various sources.
They currently hope to partner with local/private interests to raise the rest of the money.
What better arrangement than the As pay for the remaining upgrade costs, the seats are there for the 2025 season, and, that contribution to the construction covers both the ‘hassle’ of configuration and rent for the couple years until Oakland is ready?
I would love to see them go to a potential expansion city like Charlotte or to a venue that mimics a MLB stadium like Charles Schwab Field in Omaha with a seat capacity of 24,000.
Charlotte would be in another teams territory rights. Along with Omaha.
What would be neat though is what if they could travel to a few different places; even in California like Fresno where there is a triple a stadium etc. may draw more fans moving around to places like that.
Surprised that nobody is bringing up the idea of them sharing the raiders stadium in Las Vegas. They have shared a stadium before seems like it would be the perfect fit for 3 years. Could get them out of Oakland and get money flowing into them so that they sign some more players
> Surprised that nobody is bringing up the idea of them sharing the raiders stadium in Las Vegas.
That’s because it’s well known both teams ownership HATE each other.
The Giants have said they won’t allow them to play in Oracle Park. Why would they allow them to play in their AAA team’s ballpark? Maybe that is not up to them?
$$$
Dave Kavel is already making excuses about why the A’s will not be big spenders on talent when they get to Las Vegas. apparently, Dave just learned that there is no room for the market to grow in Las Vegas due to the fact that the United States government owns 95% of the land in Nevada. Vegas is always going to be a small market with limited revenues. If major league baseball was smart, they would pull the plug on this Vegas deal and forced John Fisher to sell the team to someone who can afford to operate a it major league franchise. I don’t understand why MLB continues to prop that guy up when there are major financial players in the bay area, who want to buy the team
Fisher went to a smaller media market, ensuring he’ll forever be a recipient of revenue sharing. Why MLB allowed this is perplexing.
Joe Lacob has offered multiple times to buy the team and keep it in the Bay Area. He has a pretty successful track record with the warriors.
Takes four years to build a 33,000-seat “stadium” (to me, 33,000 capacity is a ‘park’). And I had no idea MLB allowed such a small venue. What year is this?
Building 33,000 seat stadium is an admission by the team that they know they are not going to draw well in such an oversaturated entertainment market. I don’t understand what major league baseball is doing. No one in the media seems willing to ask the hard questions.
Oakland population 425;000 people – alameda county population 1,700,000 people
Las Vegas population 646,000 people Clark county population 2,650,000 people
So it is a bigger population than Oakland
I think dense population is key here.
Now add in the 1.2M in Contra Costa County, and accept that Santa Clara, San Mateo, Marin, Solano, Santa Cruz, and yes, San Francisco counties also have A’s fans.
The Bay Area has 8M+/- people. Thinking only Alameda county can contain A’s fans is dumb.
Not to mention the adjacent Sac-Central Valley market which has always had a lot of A’s fans. It’s actually the 20th largest media market (Las Vegas is 40). Frankly, Northern Nevada fans are NorCal sports fans, not Las Vegas fans.
Can confirm: Live in the South Bay (a.k.a. Santa Clara County) and was an A’s partial season ticket holder.
We have the big o here in Montreal empty just waiting for that loll
They are not going ever draw well
In Oakland; that city is horrible. In Las Vegas they won’t have state income tax so immediately their revenue will go up. More players are likely to sign in Las Vegas than Oakland as it is so much safer place.
Oakland is a dieing violent city; California is a dieing state that is going broke with all their taxes and left leaning laws. This just adds to the mass exit of people and businesses out of California.
Las Vegas is just the natural spot to try and see what the draw will be. Vegas is about 1-1.5 times population of Oakland; not to mention the tourists. I think marketed right and a decent product that they will do fairly well.
Wow that is stupid on too many levels to count. At least spell dying correctly.
Perhaps Oakland is a dieting, violent city?
If California were to be its own country, it would rank as the fifth largest economy in the entire world based on its 2022 nominal GDP.
That is true. Also true is that if California was it’s own country it would go bankrupt in 3 years. Making a lot of money doesn’t mean anything if you spend more than you make.
As we fans want it to be a sport, it’s really a business. Maybe Oakland can’t support a team anymore, but it’s got to be tough to watch ownership try to pry the shelf supports off the wall and sell them for scrap metal. Some, but not all of this story has to do with the CBA. As long as MLB supports this type of scorched earth ownership, sending $, waiving deadlines, you will have Oaklands. Why does MLB tolerate it? Because, at the cost of quality, it works. Look at Las Vegas shoveling taxpayer money into private hands.
A’s need to move back to their original home in Philadelphia. Jokeland and KC are not sports towns.
I hope the pigheaded and greedy John Fisher has to play in a minor league park without subsidies or much TV revenue. He is the cause of this crisis. Trying to extort a land grab and stadium deal after running the A’s into the ground was a long-exposed scam.
What commissioner Manfred should have done was force fisher to sell the club to a Bay Area group willing to invest and rebuild.
But the commish, only dedicated to short term get rich quick schemes, remained unable to recognize the damage his reign of error was causing.
Amtrak Capitol Corridor goes door to door, Colosseum Station to Old Town Sacramento. Two hour ride for $29 coach. I’d board at Jack London Square or else Emeryville.
How long is the walk from the Old Town Sacramento station to the ballpark? I rode that line once and was excited to see the beautiful field but don’t remember how far away it was..
Once again taxpayers allow bribed public officials to steal hundreds of millions in tax dollars and give that money to the rich.
In any sane country they’d be torn to pieces.
This has to be the most disorganized MLB team move in the history of MLB.
It’s a total joke. And the average fan seems to know nothing about it–half of them probably think the A’s will be there next year. It’s really to Manfred’s and Fisher’s “credit” that they’ve managed to create such apathy about one of its 30 organizations.
Next stop … welcome ur Reno Athletics (IF … IF they can get the financing to refurbish the ol cow palace) we all got our fingers crossed.
A’s owners deserve scorn & abuse no matter where they go
It’s really a shame they’re not gonna build the stadium next to Las Vegas Ballpark. Players should literally just get their cardio in uf they’re sent down o4 called up. Even more of a shame they’re not gonna start building for 2 more years.if they started building now the A’s could be in Vegas by 2026.
I also thought the plan was for the A’s to play some games at Las Vegas Ballpark?
This is a generational opportunity for the city of Oakland. They could put up a couple of live feed high resolution cams around a few select locations in the old stadium. The cameras should be well protected and somewhat inconspicuous. Let all the existing security staff go and open the gates to the wild world of Oakland’s urban wildlife the city and state has so graciously fostered for many years. Start a bidding war with all the streaming companies and other networks for the broadcast rights. The chemically-enhanced free-for-all is bound to become must-see TV.
The most shocking part of all of this is Manfred is allowing it to happen. And the other owners as well. I’m also just as confident that “unanimous decision’ to allow them to move wasn’t.
This decision, in it’s totality, is NOT a good long term move on any level. But it’s CERTAINLY not a good long term move as long as Fisher still has the team. The owners could tell him to take a hike, collect his check and go far, far away.
My guess is the AL West teams are okay with it because they know it’s one less team to compete against. But financially, this makes no sense at all.
looking at A’s they might be lucky to win 42 games