It was inevitable. It's too bad the stadium won't be right on the strip, but it's going to be pretty close. Best thing that could have happened for the A's. I feel sorry for the people in Oakland, but that entire city is a mess.
35 thousand seats? That's the 2nd smallest park in the Majors, bearly ahead of Cleveland. At least they're realistic about attendance figures. This move takes them from the largest stadium to the 2nd smallest.
I think it’s clear that new stadiums don’t necessarily move the needle anymore in terms of poor teams… it’s about the market. Cincy, Pittsburgh, and Miami didn’t change their eventual spending patterns after getting tax subsidized new parks. Granted, Vegas doesn’t have the tv viewers that the Bay Area has… but they’ll be popular as a tourist destination and for visiting fans, they’ll get some decent sponsorship participation…. And the franchise value will go up.
Second Banana in the Bay Area isn't a small market, unless you also think the White Sox are a small market team. I doubt Fisher busts out the checkbook after the move, the plan is that the tank is done by the time they reach Vegas, to deliver a good and cheap team to sucker in the fans until 2030 when the next rebuild hits.
They’re extremely profitable now simply because they are in the Bay Area… but the franchise value is low because nobody cares about them either locally or nationally (and that includes sponsors).
Yes Oakland sucks , all their teams left. they are building a pedestrian bridge to cross the highway , it’s just across T-Mobile arena so that’s not far plus allows people can park at the casinos garages as opposed to frying outdoors
Going to Oakland to see them play the Astros making sure I don’t get robbed by thugs at the Bart station Or Staying at the bellagio , going to the pool, bet on some games, walk to watch the Astros play the A’s, then going to Gordon Ramsay’s to celebrate the win. Easy choice
Going to Oakland to see them play the Astros making sure I don’t get robbed by thugs at the Bart station Or Staying at the bellagio , going to the pool, bet on some games, walk to watch the Astros play the A’s, then going to Gordon Ramsay’s to celebrate the win. Easy choice
The city of Oakland is to blame for all these teams leaving , they wanted to team to pay for affordable housing and infrastructure too that’s their responsibility to fix their housing problem not the teams Vegas said just build and we will help. Easy choice @J.R.
I went to an A's game last weekend because I was passing through Oakland and I'm glad I got to experience the Coliseum in all of its dingy, possum-infested glory. The New York Times wrote a good piece about the Coliseum a few years ago and the throwback, laissez-faire vibe is something that doesn't exist in pro sports anymore: It definitely had a dive bar feeling and I was able to basically sit wherever I wanted (except for the field boxes which had diligent ushers for a game with an announced attendance of 13,000 (the Mets were playing and it was obviously a 70/30 pro-Mets split).
That reminds me of one of my favorite Onion Sports headlines...(I'm paraphrasing) "PNC Park Threatens Move Unless Better Team Built". Man, losing all three major sports franchises in less than a decade...
It’s the city of Oakland’s fault. For the A’s, they should have known better. They wanted the A’s to pay for ‘affordable housing’, which is the city’s responsibility. Of course they won’t pay for that ..duh
Similar to what the astrodome became in later years, especially midweek day games. on the one hand, it was usually only about the game. On the other hand, there was literally nothing else to do around the park or within the park (lefty’s was nice in the later years) and it was as cavernous/echoing as anything. nothing like MMP now. Nostalgia is always there, but the dome (and likely colesium) experience is subpar compared to what every other team gives its fans.
