Oakland A's in San Francisco? Team president explores possible temporary home
OAKLAND, Calif. (KGO) -- Oakland Athletics' team president Dave Kaval says the team is exploring several sights to play games when their lease expires at the Coliseum in 2024. He told the Nevada Independent one of those sights is Oracle park.
The lease at the Coliseum is set to expire after the 2024 season. The new stadium in Las Vegas is not set to be finalized until 2028. This means the A's would have to find a place to play for the season in between and Oracle Park is an option he mentioned. A's fans are not thrilled by this idea.
"We wouldn't support it," said Jorge Leon, the president of the Oakland 68's fan group. "Obviously we would just stop going all together. First of all, it is not Oakland and second you are going to a rival's home."
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Leon says the ownership has not shown much care about the fanbase this year and now playing in San Francisco he says would feel like a "slap to the face"
"It is pretty laughable at this," Leon said. "John Fisher is clueless, so is Dave Kaval. I mean, they have no sense of community."
There is still the chance the A's could sign a new lease at the Coliseum before they leave for Las Vegas. However, that would involve them negotiating with the City of Oakland after the Howard Terminal project fell through. Some think Kaval is only saying this just to leverage a better lease agreement for the Coliseum.
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"It only makes sense for Oakland if that number is enormous compared to what it currently is," said Alex Simon, a sports reporter with the San Jose Mercury News. "That maybe is a negotiating tactic for the A's saying hey, if you want that number to be enormous we can find other options."
The issue with the Giants - they host many non-baseball events at Oracle Park even during baseball season that bring in revenue. If they have to host more baseball games, those other events might have to go away.
"I would imagine for the Giants it is a duality of they would have their own costs, they would have to put in to host those events," Simon said. "Then there is the opportunity costs we are talking about of so many other events they like to do even in the baseball season that would probably have to go away."
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