The Relocation of the Oakland A’s
John Misiewicz
Stillman News Writer
The owner of Oakland Athletics has finalized a deal to officially move the team to Las Vegas.
After years of poor fan attendance and an abundance of fan outrage over the past three years, Athletics owner John Fisher has decided to move the team out of Oakland. The A’s already have a deal in Las Vegas set up, however, time is needed to build the stadium, which is set to house nearly 30,000 fans.
In the meantime, Fisher, as well as Vivek Ranadive, who owns the NBA’s Sacramento Kings, as well as the San Fransisco Giants Triple-A affiliate, the River Cats, struck a deal to where the A’s can play in Sacramento for the time being. The deal lasts for three seasons, with the ability to play for a fourth season if the stadium in Vegas isn’t ready by the time the deal ends.
The Athletics have been one of the worst teams in baseball for the last two seasons and are projected to finish at the bottom of the totem pole once again this year. Their fan attendance has been a good representation of the team’s on-field struggles as well, ranking last in the MLB the last two seasons.
In 2022, they averaged 9,973 fans while playing games at the Oakland Coliseum. Last season, the A’s average home attendance was 10,275, which is over 4,000 fewer fans than the second-to-last Miami Marlins. Perhaps they could’ve been even lower had it not been for a few outliers. On a couple of occasions last year, the fans hosted “reverse boycotts.” The objective was, instead of refusing to go to games, they would choose a specific date for thousands of fans to go and support the A’s. This was done to convince Fisher that the problem lay with him and not the Oakland fans losing interest.
The two reverse boycotts planned by the fans brought in thousands of fans, with the first one planned for June 13th bringing in a reported attendance figure of 27,759. The other one, executed on August 5th brought in a season-high 37,553 fans in attendance. Unfortunately, these efforts were all for not.
Ever since the rumors of a potential move to Las Vegas swirled about a year ago, fans have shared their displeasure. So much so to the point where there are examples of the MLB cropping certain clips of Oakland home games to cut out the big signs that read “Sell the Team”.
A common criticism from fans is that the A’s always trade their best players, as opposed to paying them the money they deserve. This is a strategy that the Athletics have been utilizing for decades. From as recent as trading Matt Olson to the Atlanta Braves, who ended up leading the league in home runs this past year, to as far back as the late ’70s, when they traded hall of Famer Reggie Jackson to the Baltimore Orioles.
Will there be a change in how Fisher operates once he gets to Las Vegas compared to now? Will he finally start paying star players instead of trading them, or letting them walk in free agency? We will just have to wait and see.
Contact John at john.misiewicz@student.shu.edu