The Athletics know the twists and turns that a Wild Card game can take; they’re in the middle of their latest do-or-die contest as we speak. The Oakland organization also just experienced a sudden jolt in the lengthy roller-coaster ride that it hopes will end in a new ballpark.
While the most recent news was positive, a sudden new roadblock has arisen, as Phil Matier and Sarah Ravani of the San Francisco Chronicle report. The city of Oakland has brought suit against Alameda County to prevent the county’s sale of the present Coliseum site to the A’s — a key part of the team’s overarching strategy of building a new stadium at Howard Terminal.
Sometimes these sorts of conflicts are anticipated. In this case, both the A’s and even Oakland’s mayor expressed great surprise at the move, which evidently emanated from a city council directive. The merits of the claims remain unclear, but a glance at the rundown of the complaint reveals a potentially fact-heavy matter that may not easily be resolved in an expedient manner — assuming, at least, that the city has no interest in a speedy end to the uncertainty.
The true motivations and possible pathways remain unclear at this time. But MLB commissioner Rob Manfred left no doubt as to the way the move was interpreted by the league. He tells the Chronicle’s Susan Slusser that he’s “very concerned” by the litigation and the lack of “concrete progress” towards a new facility.
Manfred explained that he has already met with mayor Libby Schaaf and City Council President Rebecca Kaplan to convey his misgivings. Despite carrying a generally optimistic tone on the subject in recent years, Manfred was now willing to embed an obvious warning shot in his comments:
“What I would say is we can’t stay in a holding pattern with no progress indefinitely. There needs to be a plan to move this franchise forward. I’m hopeful it’s going to be here in Oakland.”
It’s worth bearing in mind that the redevelopment of the Coliseum site is not, in theory, inextricably tied to the new ballpark-building project. But even a casual glance through the above-linked A’s site on the initiative shows how closely connected these aims are. The goal is for the new park to be fully financed by the team itself, the accomplishment of which depends upon what the team has labeled a “two-project approach.”
Impeccable timing right after I mentioned it in a comment!
Las Vegas
Las Vegas A’s all the way!!
Arizona already signed a negotiating pact with Las Vegas. Move to Portland Oregon!
then, arizona a’s!
Won’t happen. Too small of a TV market.
It’s growing by leaps and bounds.
Unlike NFL and NHL where revenue is shared 100% and all tv money comes from national contracts, in MLB the teams get a large percentage of revenue from local TV contracts.
The larger the TV market, the bigger that contract is. Las Vegas is in a very small TV market compared to other MLB teams. Much, much smaller than other cities that are in consideration.
Las Vegas is a bigger TV market than Milwaukee or Cincinnati. It’s also a growing area and could easily pass Pittsburgh in the next ten years.
Nashville
Just city council trying to squeeze more money from the As before they leave.
They really need a new stadium. It’s a terrible concrete tomb.
The view before Mt. Davis was built was beautiful, it’s a disgraceful structure aptly named for the insane a****** who demanded it be built
Absolutely spot on. I went to games in the late 80s and early 90s and it was a great place to watch a game. That concrete monstrosity is a tumor.
don’t know if irony is the right word (maybe funny, maybe sad), but last night’s wild card game featured the 2 teams who’s stadiums are neck and neck for worst stadium in mlb (and possibly all major sports).
both stadiums are pretty much the last ones from the cookie cutter era, and i for 1 will be glad to see both go
Just move already. Oakland is going to find itself going from having 3 professional sports franchises to 0 in the span of about 5 years. Great leadership that city has.
The Raiders have never wanted to be Oakland. So, who cares about them. They’ll leave Vegas in 10 years.
The Raiders will be gone in 2. The A’s about the same. I don’t what fool would wait 10 years in that dump.
What do you mean 2 years? They are gone in 3 months.
I thought the new Staduim won’t be ready in 2021
Just move. California has never helped any professional team build arena or staduim. Ca is a litgatigted State. Too many taxes. Too many road blocks. Too many environmental studies. Just do what every sane person is doing and get the f out. I’m leaving when I retire. They can have their Sanctuary Fun Zone.
lost possibly the last game at the sewage plant.
It appears Oakland doesn’t want any sports teams. Well, at least the city council doesn’t.
Oakland still on the hole over 130 million for the rebuild of theor current dump. They got hosed by Oakland sports for years now.
Oakland is hostile to all professional teams. The A’s should just leave.
Wait… I don’t get it. Is the current stadium owned by the county or the city? If it is owned by the county how can the city stop them from selling it? If it is owned by the city or mutually owned how could the county sell it without city approval in the first place?
You should stand down. It is owned by the city.
It is jointly owned by the city and the county under the guise of a sports authority
What is a sports authority? I thought that was just the name of an old sporting goods store.
Sorry, I meant a stadium authority. You know, a committee where political insiders get appointed to a cushy job.
Move the team to Austin, Texas.
More people here than Detroit, lots of transplants live here now, and if they build a park on the south side it draws in San Antonio as a market, in Austin everyone is a Spurs fan.
Austin Athletics, sounds fine to me.
Austin doesn’t have a Stadium. Austin doesn’t have any plans to build a stadium.
Could they move to the BallPark in Arlington temporarily if the Rangers okay it? There is a lease thru 2024 in Oakland that would need to be bought out though.
Didn’t San Antonio y’all to the Raiders about moving there? Maybe the A’s could could go there.
If I were in charge of Mlb, I would make two moves ASAP.
1. Oakland A’s to Nashville
2. Tampa Bay to Brooklyn
Saves money, time, and travel
Tampa bay is not moving to Brooklyn. New York already has 2 teams.
Nashville is too small for MLB and not growing fast enough.
Brooklyn or Northern New Jersey could probably support a team but the stadium is going to cost close to $2 billion and taxes are already high enough there.
Lived in Oakland for many years. The city has lots of options to figure out how to accommodate a proper sports village. The powers that be make it very difficult. Oakland has image issues. It’s a city without a really strong middle class- there’s a large middle class but it isn’t politically all that powerful- but lots of extreme poverty and lots of extreme wealth. HBO tried to get a couple of different series going there but the city made so many requests related to its image and also its financial burden- cities picked for filming usually done so with criteria balanced between appropriateness for the story and for overall logistics and tax credits-
Anyway, there’s a reason Oakland produces so many amazing entertainers, athletes and entrepreneurs- it’s a gritty, diverse area with lots of high quality sports programs and a solid fan base- but can’t build itself up as a major metropolitan destination because of in fighting about what the city’s image and priorities are.
Unfortunately, I think it would take a massive commitment in the multi-billion range, including Jack London Square in downtown Oakland and including the Coliseum BART area being revamped into a night life district.
The main issue is that retail is effectively dead in the area and Oakland itself doesn’t have enough people with disposable income to support the level of commitment required to justify a new park.
A bunch of long tenured, ‘successful’ Oakland restaurants and shops just closed their doors in areas that 15 and 25 years ago, respectively, were newly constructed centers of culture, entertainment and nightlife. Now they’re ghost towns.
Not sure how the city reconciles it. I want to see them stay and think they can figure something out, but I understand why the Athletics are seriously looking at Las Vegas.
No matter what the solution is, they’re stuck in the Coliseum a few more years. Crazy to think that even if a solution is reached, it won’t be a feasible reality for at least a half decade.
I think they should re-furbish the Coliseum as is, piecemeal over a decade, concentrating in chunks of a few years per section and work with the Coliseum area residents to re-structure the area to accommodate new businesses without disrupting day to day commerce and life. They’re accomplishing this in the enclave industrial city of Emeryville literally just a few blocks down the road.
Fascinating! Thanks!
North part of Oakland is basically South Berkeley.
As a Las Vegas native, a majority of the city did NOT want the Raiders coming here. The new stadium being built has a jail and a small court complete with judges chambers. As for the A’s……the city would embrace them just like the Diamond Backs.
The A’s will never get a ballpark in Oakland. This has been going on for twenty years. MLB doesn’t know what to do with them. The owners don’t want to invest in the team. The fans don’t show up because of the stadium and because the A’s keep getting rid of favorite players. The city is losing sports teams and doesn’t do anything to keep them. It’s like a really bad marriage that nobody wants to be the first to file for divorce.
It’s time for them to leave, but where can they go? Portland makes sense, but can they really support an MLB team? I guess more than Oakland has. They are trying to get funding for a stadium. I don’t really see Vegas as an alternative, personally, as it’s a risky market already for football which is a more national appeal while baseball is more local.
I like the A’s, and I’m a Giants fan. However, I think what’s best for baseball and for the team is to just move already. Anyplace is better than another decade in that city with no attendance and support from the city and the ownership. If I’m frustrated reading article after article like this, I can’t imagine what it’s like for an A’s fan.
“I can’t imagine what it’s like for an A’s fan.”
If you were a Giants fan 30 years ago, you could absolutely empathize with what A’s fans are going through today.
(Well, technically, if you were a Giants fan 30 years ago today, you were enjoying Game 4 of the 1989 NLCS.)
They should come back to Philly. Maybe we’ll have something to root for in the offseason.
What, did someone not get their palms greased?