It Doesn't say Oakland it says Athletics
If the A’s leave town and abandon their quest for a new taxpayer-subsidized waterfront development at the Port of Oakland’s Howard Terminal, they will still hold veto power over the Coliseum site six miles away where they currently play.
Lost in the righteous outrage over the team’s ridiculous take-it-or-leave-it demands for its new project adjacent to Jack London Square is the control it already acquired, in another taxpayer-subsidized deal, over one of the Bay Area’s prime transit-friendly parcels.
That control could hamstring prospects for thoughtful residential development next to BART’s Coliseum station that could house workers employed along the transit system’s lines from San Jose to San Francisco and Concord. And it could undermine hopes of the region recruiting another professional sports team in the future.
The A’s have veto control over that 120-acre parcel because the gullible Alameda County Board of Supervisors sold the county’s half-interest in the Coliseum site to the A’s in 2019. It was a sweetheart $85 million deal for which the county never sought competitive bids. The deal had no requirement that the A’s stay in Oakland.
Supervisors were suckered by the promises of A’s President Dave Kaval that he would keep the team in Oakland. But, as we’ve now seen clearly, this is all about business for the A’s and grabbing as much public money as possible.
There is no loyalty to the Bay Area. After Kaval and Major League Baseball failed in their recent efforts to strongarm the city to immediately accept the team’s terms for its waterfront development, the A’s announced this week that they will go shopping for a new location, starting with Las Vegas.
The A’s were never “Rooted in Oakland.” The advertising campaign the team launched in 2017 was a sham. As the team has now demonstrated, it has no intention of negotiating in good faith to build a new ballpark.
All this adds to the drama and indicates a sure move out of Oakland for the Oakland A's. Professional Sports Teams have no allegiance to any city. There allegiance is to the dollar. STAY TUNED FOR THE DRAMA... In the meantime visit Las Vegas the soon to be home of the Athletics.