Report: Oakland Athletics owner, MLB threaten to leave Bay Area if city doesn’t approve new stadium
Oakland #Oakland
The Oakland A’s have been pushing hard for the city of Oakland to approve the construction of a new stadium and mixed use development at Howard Terminal, and now their principal owner John Fisher, in addition to Major League Baseball itself, are significantly upping the stakes.
On Tuesday, ESPN reported for the first time that the A’s are publicly threatening to leave Oakland altogether if the City Council doesn’t hold a vote soon on the Howard Terminal project.
The A’s want the City Council to vote by their July recess, and the City Council hasn’t yet indicated whether that will happen. Fisher, who rarely speaks to the media, gave the following statement to ESPN: “The future success of the A’s depends on a new ballpark. Oakland is a great baseball town, and we will continue to pursue our waterfront ballpark project. We will also follow MLB’s direction to explore other markets.”
MLB gave a strongly worded statement to ESPN, too.
“MLB is concerned with the rate of progress on the A’s new ballpark effort with local officials and other stakeholders in Oakland. The A’s have worked very hard to advance a new ballpark in downtown Oakland for the last four years, investing significant resources while facing multiple roadblocks. We know they remain deeply committed to succeeding in Oakland, and with two other sports franchises recently leaving the community, their commitment to Oakland is now more important than ever.
“The Oakland Coliseum site is not a viable option for the future vision of baseball. We have instructed the Athletics to begin to explore other markets while they continue to pursue a waterfront ballpark in Oakland. The Athletics need a new ballpark to remain competitive, so it is now in our best interest to also consider other markets.”
Las Vegas is reportedly one possible market for the A’s, though it’s in the best interest of both the organization and MLB to float some possible “options” to increase their leverage.
Oakland is 21-15 this season and in first place in the AL West.