As the 2024 Major League Baseball (MLB) season gets underway, the Oakland Athletics (A’s) are preparing to play their last season in their longtime home of Oakland, causing mixed emotions among A’s fans.
Prior to settling in Oakland in 1968, the A’s played in Philadelphia from 1901 to 1954 and Kansas City from 1955 to 1967. The move to Oakland provided the team owner at the time, Charlie Finley, with a new stadium and a new media market on the West Coast. The team has been playing in the Oakland Coliseum ever since their relocation in 1968. but will possibly find themselves relocating again, this time to Las Vegas, Nevada.
During the 2023 offseason, MLB owners unanimously approved the A’s relocation to Las Vegas. Current A’s owner, John Fisher had attempted to secure public funding to build a new stadium in Oakland but was denied by the city council. This prompted his support for the team to be relocated to Las Vegas.
Ever since owner John Fisher became majority owner of the team in 2005, the A’s have consistently ranked at the bottom in team payroll. Some players on other teams have been making more than the entire team combined. The blockbuster film “Moneyball”, directed by Bennett Miller and starring Brad Pitt, highlighted the fascinating way the A’s were able to have success in the early 2000s even with their low team payroll.
In recent years, the A’s have suffered from very poor fan attendance. With an average of 10,276 attendees during the 2023 season, they ranked last amongst all teams. In comparison, the league-wide average was 29,295 and the team with the highest was the Los Angeles Dodgers with an average of 47,371 attendees per game. Many people have pointed to the team’s on-field failures as to why fans have been disengaged with their hometown team. In 2022, they posted a 60-102 record and went 50-112 record in 2023, both ranking near the bottom in the league.
“It’s been a brutal couple of seasons for us,” said senior and diehard A’s fan Alex Carter. “It’s hard to go to games when the team and the stadium are the worst in baseball.”
Along with Carter, other A’s fans have expressed their frustration about their hometown team moving. Upon hearing rumors about the A’s potential relocation, fans planned a reverse boycott. On June 13, 2023, A’s fans all over the Bay Area packed the Oakland Coliseum to voice their frustrations with the team. Fans held signs with “Sell the team” and shirts spelling out “Sell” were worn all over the ballpark, hoping that this last minute protest would keep their team in their hometown.
“I’ve had lots of memories at the Coliseum,” said Carter. “It’s going to be sad going to my last game in Oakland and reliving all of those memories one last time.”
Although it’ll be much harder for A’s fans to watch their hometown team, some think the relocation could be a positive step for the franchise. Being in Las Vegas, it could be more intriguing for players which could give them a better roster.
“I think the move to Las Vegas can definitely bring more value to the team,” said senior and A’s fan Giovanni DeMarinis. “It’s definitely a more popular attraction than Oakland is.”
While there may be benefits that come with relocating to Las Vegas, it’ll definitely leave a void for A’s fans living in the Bay Area. The franchise and its team may be moving, but the memories that the fans built in Oakland will last forever.
