By Alan Snel, LVSportsBiz.com Publisher-Writer
OAKLAND, California — Stadiums are absolutely fascinating places.
Where else do people with varied backgrounds from different neighborhoods and cities gather to scream, eat and watch feats of athleticism in a single building?
They show up in buses, trains and cars and even walk and ride bicycles to these hubs of entertainment that have the unique ability to bring people together like no other institution.
Two months ago I walked the grass in the foul ball sections of the Coliseum, a stadium in a sports complex off an interstate in Oakland where fans have lived and celebrated A’s baseball for 57 years.
I sat on the dugout benches along both the first and third base lines. I peered inside the visitors dugout and imagined Seaver, Staub, Jones, Kranepool, Harrelson, Grote and Millan sitting here in 1973 when the New York Mets played the A’s in the 1973 World Series when baseball ruled my 11-year-old world.
It all ends here for the A’s on Thursday when the historic 123-year-old American League franchise hosts the Texas Rangers in the final Athletics game at the Coliseum. The team with previous homes in Philadelphia and Kansas City moves to a minor league ballpark in Sacramento for 2025, 2026 and 2027 while a $1.5 billion, 30,000-seat Major League Baseball stadium is built at one of the busiest intersections on the Strip in Las Vegas for a 2028 debut.
The A’s Monday released a statement about the end of an era in Oakland:
We are deeply grateful to Oakland for being home to the A’s for nearly 60 years. In that span, the team and its fans celebrated four World Series championships, served as home to seven American League MVPs, made countless lasting memories, and achieved a storied place in baseball history.
After an earnest and unprecedented effort to bring a visionary ballpark to downtown Oakland, we were unable to reach a deal, and more importantly, secure a reliable path to a fully approved project. We appreciate the community members, local leaders and staff who worked diligently to build a new home in Oakland and applaud the fans who passionately advocated for the team to stay.
The A’s time in Oakland will always be a cherished part of this franchise’s history, and we carry that spirit forward on this journey to Sacramento and eventually to our new home in Las Vegas. We extend our heartfelt gratitude to the loyal fans for their unwavering support throughout the years.
Owner John Fisher also sent this letter to A’s fans today:
This upcoming series with the Texas Rangers will be the final games of the A’s storied 57 years in Oakland. And while the A’s previously played in Philadelphia and Kansas City, Oakland has been home for the greatest era in the franchise’s more than 123-year history.
Four World Series Championships. Six pennants and 17 division titles. Seven Baseball Hall of Famers. Charlie Finley and his mule. Billy Ball. Reggie and his incomparable swagger. Rollie and his handlebar mustache. Dave Stewart and the stare. Bill King’s “Holy Toledo.” Rickey, the greatest leadoff hitter in baseball history. The list goes on and on.
Triumphs, near misses, the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake in Game 3 of the Bay Bridge Series, the 20-game win streak, a Hollywood movie, and an unmatched cast of players, coaches, and fans. We’ve had it all.
And that, I know, is what makes our departure so very hard.
The A’s are part of the fabric of Oakland, the East Bay, and the entire Bay Area. When Lew Wolff and I bought the team in 2005, our dream was to win world championships and build a new ballpark in Oakland. Over the next 18 years, we did our very best to make that happen. We proposed and pursued five different locations in the Bay Area. And despite mutual and ongoing efforts to get a deal done for the Howard Terminal project, we came up short.
Only in 2021, after 16 years of working exclusively on developing a home in the Bay Area and faced with a binding MLB agreement to find a new home by 2024, did we begin to explore taking the team to Las Vegas.
There are millions of dedicated and passionate A’s fans, in Oakland and around the world. Countless dedicated staff members and Oakland Coliseum employees have poured their hearts into this team, and their efforts have meant so much to our community. I know there is great disappointment, even bitterness. Though I wish I could speak to each one of you individually, I can tell you this from the heart: we tried. Staying in Oakland was our goal, it was our mission, and we failed to achieve it. And for that I am genuinely sorry.
John Fisher
The letter to the fans said the A’s looked at five locations in the Bay area to build a stadium before announcing in April 2023 that the A’s would move to Las Vegas.
What’s interesting about the Las Vegas move is that the A’s will not build their stadium at the location it first announced nearly a year and a half ago.
If you recall, the A’s said they would build their Las Vegas stadium on 49 acres at the old Wild Wild West casino location off Tropicana Avenue, just west of Interstate 15 and the Strip
At the time, A’s team president Dave Kaval said that ballpark site was close enough to the Raiders’ Allegiant Stadium and the Vegas Golden Knights’ T-Mobile Arena to form a sports entertainment triangle along the Strip corridor.
But the A’s even switched gears in Las Vegas, then saying a month later in May 2023 they will partner with hotel-casino owner Bally’s Corporation and hotel-casino land owner Gaming & Leisure Properties, Inc. (GLPI) to build their stadium on nine acres at the former Tropicana hotel site at the southeast corner of Las Vegas Boulevard and Tropicana Avenue. The state of Nevada then approved a $380 million government assistance subsidy in June 2023 to help the A’s build their stadium on the Strip.
An A’s groundbreaking is scheduled in Las Vegas for either April, May or June of 2025 with the Tropicana hotel to be imploded Oct. 9.