8:40pm: The A’s and the Coliseum Authority have now officially agreed to a 10-year lease, writes MLB.com’s Jane Lee. The new lease calls for the city to provide $10MM worth of upgrades, which will be completed this offseason. Additionally, the A’s will be able to leave the Coliseum at any time, so long as they provide two years of notice and make their usual lease payments during that two-year period. The A’s do not have to continue making those payments if they relocate to a new stadium in Oakland, however.
Athletics owner Lew Wolff offered the following statement:
“After much diligence and cooperation from both parties, we are delighted to make this announcement today. We believe this agreement works well for city and county taxpayers, the team, A’s fans and all involved. It provides stability for the A’s, while also improving fan and player experience with significant upgrades and improvements at the facility.”
1:05pm: A power play from MLB commissioner Bud Selig has reignited lease talks between the A’s and the city of Oakland, as Carolyn Jones of the San Francisco Chronicle details. Athletics co-owner Lew Wolff informed city officials late last night that he received permission from Selig to immediately move the team to a “temporary or permanent location” if a new lease agreement was not approved.
That email from Wolff – which is reprinted in full in Jones’ article - prompted city and county officials to come back to the table this morning to hammer out a deal. Oakland city councilman Noel Gallo, who was initially opposed to the proposed ten-year lease proposal, said city, county and baseball leaders were on the phone hammering out a deal overnight.
“I think this agreement will be fair,” he said. “It might not be perfect, but I think it’ll be good for Oakland and the region in the long run.”
The Athletics have fought hard for a new stadium for years now and there has been talk of possible moves to San Jose and Fresno at different times. The ten-year lease agreement, which Jones outlined in an earlier article, called for the the rent to decline over the course of the contract from $1.75MM at the outset to $1.25MM at the end. While it seemed to be a done deal, some Oakland officials opposed the agreement and it was not completed as expected. Now, it seems that things are back on track to keep the A’s in Oakland.
