It seemed the Athletics had finally started some momentum toward a new ballpark when it emerged in September that the club had settled on a site to pursue. But that plan has now run into a major roadblock, according to a report from Kimberly Veklerov of the San Francisco Chronicle.
The board of trustees of Peralta Community College District — the entity that owns the prospective site, which borders Laney College — has voted to halt ongoing discussions with the A’s. That brings to a stop the exploratory efforts embarked upon by the team less than a month after it had announced a group of firms that would begin stadium design efforts.
For their part, the A’s issued a brief statement, via the Chronicle’s Susan Slusser (on Twitter). The organization says it is “shocked by Peralta’s decision to not move forward,” explaining that it had only hoped to “enter into a conversation about how to make this work for all of Oakland, Laney, and the Peralta Community College District.”
It may well be that this obstacle proves insurmountable, though perhaps the door is not fully slammed shut. But if the Athletics do move on, they’ll presumably go back to a drawing board that had featured several other possibilities — including a potential new facility at the current Coliseum site.
Feel bad for the A’s. Always had a soft spot for them
I don’t feel bad for any of the teams in this predicament because they put themselves there. I do feel bad for the players and fans, though.
Do you know the history of how they “put themselves there?” Because there are many mitigating factors that happened well before current ownership that created this problem. One of those problems is actually the Giants but that’s a long story that you should research yourself.
It simply wouldn’t be an A’s thread without the inevitable whinging about the Giants.
What is whinging?
Do you know how close the Giants were to becoming the Tampa Bay Giants? Haas family was kind and didn’t allow that to happen.
You can say we are whining, as are you and I, but at least know where it all started.
And before Tampa, Toronto..
Do you feel bad for them because they continue to make players wear white spikes? Because that’s all I feel bad about.
Touché
Am I the only one that kind of likes that part
That makes two of us. I like the white spikes.
Agreed. That place is a dump. If any team deserves a new park, it’s them. They need to start looking at relocating to other cities at this point.
Yeah but Tampa’s about as bad!
At least in Tampa the plumbing works
TB is only bad because of the location. If the ballpark were located elsewhere, they’d bring in more fans. The Coliseum brings in plenty of fans, but the building itself is the problem, in particular the plumbing.
Tear down the colesium. A’s share At&T for a few years. Raiders share levis or move to vegas. Build a new stadium on the colesium site. Come on oakland the A’s deserve a new park
Hell no. The was a privately built stadium. A’s have one of the wealthiest owners, and generate the 3rd highest net profit when you factor in revenue sharing. They can afford to build a private park and not use tax money!!!!
The city is already losing the Riaders and Warriors. The same will happen with the A’s if they cant get this done. I agree its BS but it is still in their hands. Is the moral dilemma with the taxes really worth losing 3 teams?
Drive around the Oakland airport, and you will quickly see where the city should invest money. Losing 10,000 fans for 81 games a year won’t be the worst thing to happen to the city.
funny cause the stadium is a mile or so from the airport. And the A’s privately financed the stadium at the Peralta site. If you were going to invest in real estate in Oakland would you build near the airport?
Hell what? Wealthy this, 3rd highest that… You realize that the A’s are one of the lowest revenue teams in the league, right?
Obviously don’t know how business works JD. Major league baseball even stepped in to tell them to spend the sharing revenue. Other teams put the quality of the team over just profits. And yes, the A’s have one of the richest owners so no excuse.
You know they’ve stopped or will stop the revenue sharing very soon, right? And that will affect the money the A’s have available to fund a stadium?
Also, the proposed stadium that just got blocked was going to be a privately-financed stadium. But the community college that’s $20M in debt decided not make a profit by selling/leasing the land because some teachers thought it’d be too noisy.
Vegas…that’d be kinda cool.
Raiders are already 100 percent moving to vegas
Hot actually
The Coliseum site is the problem, not the solution. The A’s were looking at the downtown location because those numbers work and rebuilding on the Coliseum site does not. Helps to read the source article.
Its only a problem because they make it one. You probably aren’t getting a stadium where you want so they need a realistic compromise. Tearing down the colesium is it
You sound very ill-informed. Best to pipe down now, little one.
You read an article on it…got it..source material…you know there are A’s fans on here that might have some knowledge of the situation more intimately. Stick with Slussers source material…and keep thinking the Coliseum property isnt viable…but many do…and many in the community…business and otherwise.
THIS!!! I’ve been to hundreds of games in Oakland in my lifetime. and Raiders/Warriors. There’s room on that site to build 3 other stadiums without tearing down the current dump or losing a parking spot. The current site is in a terrible part of town though. You can’t cross the BART bridge without thinking you’re in a 90’s gang movie
Just because there’s room to build doesn’t make it financially viable. A new stadium alone isn’t enough to attract sellout crowds to most game. Modern stadiums need to sell an experience and have attractions nearby that are easily accessible. Restaurant, bars, nightlife–have this nearby is a must for stadiums nowadays.
that’s
what
I
said
It is really Irritating that all these teams are screaming build me a stadium build me a stadium. I don’t member the Giants once stating build me a stadium. The Giants went out and paid for it themselves. At this point & time AT&T is paid for so if the A’s want a stadium cough up the money to build one.
The A’s have offered to build a privately funded stadium. They were even willing to relocate the Peralta school.
The A’s are going to play at a community college!? Now their stadium will definitely be mostly packed!
I see the sarcasm lol. But no, the spot where they were going to build the stadium borders the community college. Much nicer area than where the coliseum is, but still, Oakland is Oakland.
Las Vegas baby. Get away from California ‘s extreme taxes and bad building regulations.
I like that idea.
That would be a smart move. Las Vegas is a hugely growing population and people love to travel there. Many away fans could make it a destination trip to see their club.
The A’s can escape their lease after 2018. So, why not?
2023 – They signed a 10-year lease at the Coliseum in 2014. The raiders used that as one of many reasons they “had to” leave.
They can pay to get out before 2023.
Say hello to Monteral A’s fans!
Not going to happen, it would mess with the team location balance. A’s more likely to go to Vegas if they moved. If a team moves to Montreal it’d be Tampa
Atlanta was in the West once. Team location balance will never be a factor.
And the only move Tampa is making is across the bay to Tampa.
That move has been hit with a road block too; similar instance of private groups granting approval to build and then backing out..
Montreal would be a great move. The rivalry with Toronto in the AL would be awesome.
Good! I would have missed the giant Laney College flea market every Sunday.
You mean the Laney College “Fence Your Stolen Goods” market?
I’d like to see them move to the North Bay. Vacaville baby!!
I can picture a crossover uniform based on prison garb. Cool.
Sacramento would be the obvious choice
Move to Nashville
Nashville is one of the quickest growing cities in America. Would be a great place for a team. Same with San Antonio, Charlotte, etc…
Or Indianapolis. Nearest mlb is 3.5 hours away in Chicago or Cincinnati.
Mexico City Athletics, or “Los Athleticos”. It’s time for more diversity and to bring the international community back onboard with Major League Baseball.
Nope
Still think they’d be a perfect fit for Portland. It would create a natural rival for the Mariners. Plus, they have a temp facility that could be used until a ballpark was done.
As someone who lives in Portland, we don’t need any more green and yellow here with the Ducks being almost everyone’s college team of choice. Horrible colors. lol. Obviously I’m kidding though. Portland needs Major League Baseball.
Ha all the more reason to get them. Anything to replace Duck colors. I hate them. Plus, I went to North Dakota State, who are also green and gold. Now, living in Oregon, everyone thinks I’m a Duck fan when I wear my NDSU jacket.
But yes, totally agree that they need one. It’s a perfect fit.
Oakland is overall a beautiful city (the new, somewhat-more affordable San Francisco, frankly) with many thriving neighborhoods. Yes, probably 1/3 of the city is mired in bleak poverty, but that doesn’t mean the people living in those neighborhoods are bad or that the city as a whole doesn’t deserve a new ballpark located near downtown where, if built, it will thrive. Who should pay for it is another matter. .
I traveled to each stadium and I wish I could say nice things about the city of Oakland or the people but I cannot. In fact they are the rudest bunch of any fan base I came across and the stadium sucks.
I agree that the stadium sucks, and its location is horrid. The fan base I believe is more diverse than you give it credit for.
I’ve also been to every stadium. Oakland sucks, plain and simple.
The stadium location sucks but the city does not. Oakland is one of the hottest real estate markets in the country. It’s a booming time for Oakland. It’s unfortunate that people only see the blight of the current Oakland stadium location.
Shut the f*ck up, a**hole
I’ve been to Oakland and I’ve been to the Trop. They are the 2 worst stadiums I’ve been to. The Trop however , makes Oakland look like AT&T Park which IMO is the most beautiful ballpark in baseball. If you think Oakland was horrible, I’d advise you never to go to The Trop if you haven’t been there.
If they move, it would be Portland. Keeps them on the west coast.
Relocate! Sacramento? Salt Lake City? El Paso? Oklahoma City?
San Jose?
I think the Giants have the rights on the San Jose area. If I remember correctly, the A’s tried to move to San Jose before, only to see the Giants blocked them.
I believe that’s correct
Sort of interesting they aren’t even entertaining sitting at the table to discuss the proposal at all. As others have said, feel bad for the A’s. Also agree they have to start entertaining other cities, though I always felt the Oakland fans helped make the team unique too, and it’s too bad if they do have to move.
None of us know what demands the team may or may not be making. We do know that the tax bill making it’s way through Congress is tough on states like NewYork and California, and, if I recall, changes tax treatment for certain types of public-private renewals. there’s probably a lot to this story we don’t know yet.
I feel bad for A’s fans. It’s rare these days that a team offers to a city a privately-fund stadium. I think it would’ve been wise to at least listen to what the A’s have to say.
Having said that, I don’t think Manfred will allow them to relocate. He seems to genuinely like that market. As some have said, it’s basically the new affordable SF. If they move though, my bet would be on Portland.
Im guessing the community college is catching major flack from the asian community around it…and want no part of the political turmoil. A’s could have the entire current stadium complex do to as they see fit with the Raiders and Warriors gone. In the meantime just tearing down Mt. Davis would be a huge improvement.
It’s not what they want it’s what the entire town wants
Do they want the as to leave?
They already lost the faders
Golden state is supposed to move across the bag again
The ballpark plan on college property received virtually no support from within the college community and little from the city of Oakland. This is in the source article.
So a junior college? Not a real college
There’s a huge community of people.. business.. that this stadium would displace. No one seems to care the impact projects likes these make on lower income people. But please, continue like you all know what the hell is actually going on.
Im familiar with the source material and about a dozen other pieces of media info on the Peralta Site. Its just the A’s were shut down without discussion really. It was going to face major backlash if it went forward. Jack London Square doesnt work logistically…its a transportation nightmare and the truckers union was already raising a fuss about that proposal….there’s also numerous railroad tracks that would require a very expensive pedestrian bridge/tunnel system. It really, at this point, looks like the stadium complex area is their safe bet. I cant believe Oakland would want to lose the franchise…something will shake loose. Oakland is a good market going forward I believe.
Many community colleges in California would rival state schools in other parts of the country for a fraction of the cost.
We may never know this, but it would be interesting to know exactly what happened that prompted Peralta to end all talks. Had to be something very significant.
We already know. It received no support from anyone apparently, not even much from the city, and much opposition from within the college community. It’s in the source article.
What about moving to Sacramento?
Montreal needs to build a ballpark, surely Tampa and Oakland are on the clock.
It would seem the inner-mountain west & Pacific Northwest are under represented so by that standard, SLC Utah, Portland, Vegas, & Vancouver would be the logical relocation candidates and of course that would only be if a potential ownership group would be in place along with a venue…
I would not blame the A’s for wanting to move at this point. Many cities would welcome a ML baseball team and privately funded park with open arms.
Nobody has blamed the A’s for wanting to move for many years. The Coliseum is possibly the worst ballpark in MLB. The problem has been finding a location for a new ballpark closer to downtown Oakland. If this one falls through maybe they will start looking at San Jose again.
And again the Giants will block that move…they’ve moved on from San Jose. Its Giants territory.
You do realize that San Jose used to be A’s territory until they gave it to the Giants so they wouldn’t have to move to Tampa.
Doesn’t matter….The Giants, A’s and MLB have been down this road and the Giants arent caving. They’d have been in San Jose now if that would have worked. I dont see the Giants basically saying, “gee,.whiz, I guess you can have it now”…doesnt matter whos territory it was.
You don’t say…
So far, I’ve seen Vegas, Montreal, Nashville, Oklahoma City, Portland, Salt Lake City, Sacramento, El Paso, and Mexico City suggested as relocation cities but most of those have other minor league teams or other logistical problems…does anyone have any completely outside the box suggestions? This isn’t really a comment as much as it is me being curious what other people think
I missed someone saying Vancouver too, which is another that I thought of but the Blue Jays have a minor league team there and I’m not sure if that and Portland would be too close to the Seattle market
A study…one that i cant recall the name of top of my head…found the best expansion/relocation locations were adding a 3rd team in NY/NJ and Southern California. Thats not happening….montreal was the lone city possibility that didnt involve another small market. Mlb is NOT going to Mexico…the monetary situation there is limited and a team would be limited marketing back to Americans. Montreal allowed for possible marketing to Europe. Seriously, baseball has exhausted its footprint. Leaving Oakland would be really dumb I believe….its the market baseball wants to reach….its Brooklyn to SFs Manhattan.
I believe the study listed these 3 as best suited.
NJ Meadowlands area
Riverside, CA
Montreal
Past that were some interchangable cities with small market questions, and quirky ecomonics, or they share with other major sports. For cities without teams in the market…Montreal was far and away the best option.
People mention OKC a lot, but thats a HIGHLY volatile market based around energy. Its also fairly close to the Metroplex. Its easy to say…”Well, Milwaukee is the same size” but a place like Milwaukee also has decades and decades of built in brand loyalty and history.
Baseball will expand before it relocates. I also think well see the elimination of the division format. Personally Im in favor of realigmment into 8 team divisions by adding 2
Oakland Coliseum is the solution, plenty of space, and all the facilities, including transportation, are practically built already…
Wish we had a team in Iowa
Iowa Western CC is the only baseball Iowa needs. They’re really good
I lived there 10 years…your team is the Chicago Cubs. Lol
Vegas seems perfect based on money, fans, and location. So much tourism, ticket sales would be solid and its still out west. Portland would be a nice city… Nashville, Reno. Outside of the box… Charlotte, Mexico City, Indianapolis, Lincoln, Jacksonville… Now realistically, Vegas..Nashville..Charlotte have the money…I threw in Lincoln, Nebraska simply bc baseball has always been big in the mid west.. Having a team in a smaller city that that take the risk on such a move, would create alot of revenue and tourism and help a smaller mid level city develop more so. Honestly, bad for Oakland fans for a move period…but.. Good for baseball as a whole to bring a team to a different city…alot of new excitement..tv deal..marketing..free agent interest in going somewhere new and building new legacy..etc – Vegas would be my best result though.
Market analysts dont like vegas for an 81 game schedule. People go to casinos at night…and its largely a service economy.
The tv deal also doesn’t favor Vegas…theres NOTHING else in that region. You also have a lot of relocatees who keep their team allegiances….same issue the Diamondbacks have found. When Joe Boomer retires from the Philly PD and heads for the sun…he stays a Phillies fan with mlbtv.
I’d add San Antonio to that list. Of all the cities listed, Nashville makes the most sense, followed by Charlotte.
They dont make much more sense than Oakland. I just dont see baseball relocating…expanding maybe. Why kill off a revenue market?
ZERO evidence that a pro team would draw. The “tourists will go the games” myth has been thoroughly debunked.
Vegas can build them a pyramid stadium hotel combo and have showgirls and elvis impersonators on opening day lmao. Jk
The A’s never actually engaged the community in a discussion at all. Kaval is a hack who tipped his hand early, thinking the weight of MLB would be enough for the surrounding communities to give into the A’s demands. It’s sad that the team feels it needs to uproot an entire community when it has and always had a feasible site at Coliseum. Just remember: baseball is a game but it’s mainly a business. These people don’t make decisions out of the goodness of their hearts. There’s a reason the A’s tried to hijack Peralta and it backfired on them.