The information many Oakland sports activities followers had been dreading turned official Thursday — this would be the final season the A's play on the Oakland Coliseum.
A's proprietor John Fisher introduced Thursday that the workforce will play the following three seasons in Sacramento. In 2028, they count on to maneuver to Las Vegas.
For the reason that workforce moved to the Oakland Coliseum in 1968, almost 80 million folks have attended A's video games on the facility.
Sports activities guide and govt director Andy Dolich says it's a giant loss for the Oakland neighborhood.
“It is a head-turning Louisville slugger,” Dolich mentioned of the information. “It's a punch within the intestine.”
The A's will finish the 2024 season in Oakland. In 2025, they’ll play in Sacramento and share Sutter Well being Park with the San Francisco Giants' AAA workforce.
“'We don't care about you, we care about your cash,'” is how Dolich interpreted the advert.
Dolich says Fisher is simply centered on getting as a lot cash out of the workforce as attainable.
“At present it has a market worth of 1.2 billion,” Dolich mentioned. “Sports activities economists who’re quite a bit smarter than me are saying that after they're in a brand new stadium in Las Vegas, it's going to be price $2.four billion. That's what John Fisher cares about.”
Oakland Metropolis Councilman Noel Gallo stopped by the stadium after the information broke.
“I've been an Ace fan my complete life,” Gallo mentioned.
He says the connection between the A's and the town of Oakland has been tumultuous for years.
“This has been an ongoing problem politically and business-wise, and I nonetheless bear in mind after they had been able to go to Fremont,” Gallo mentioned. “They’d the land there that didn't work out, then they purchased the land in San Jose.”
After greater than 56 years, the coliseum will not have its primary tenant. Leaders are attempting to determine what's subsequent.
“Now we have the African American Sports activities Leisure Committee that we employed to deal with half of the property, and Robert Bobb was a earlier Metropolis Supervisor … he helped construct the Coliseum,” Gallo mentioned of the long run unit.
“He's already involved with the Nationwide Soccer League and Main League Baseball. Hopefully we will get one other skilled workforce to return to Oakland.”
The Oakland Roots and Soul soccer groups will play on the Colesium subsequent season, however Dolich says he doesn't see some other main league sports activities groups enjoying anytime quickly.
“Are we going to have cricket matches on the coliseum? I don't know, but it surely might be crickets earlier than we now have a cricket match,” Dolich mentioned.
The Oakland Coliseum is likely one of the oldest stadiums in Main League Baseball. Gallo says the town is dedicated to enhancing the ability for future tenants.