The Oakland Athletics played their last home game in Oakland in front of a sold-out crowd. The Athletics played their home games at the Oakland Coliseum since 1968. Now, the team will relocate to Sutter Health Park in West Sacramento, California, for the next three seasons.
This will be their temporary home before they move permanently to Las Vegas.
While it’s not unusual for teams to relocate, there seems to be an unfortunate trend in Oakland. The Athletics are the third major sports team to have moved away from the city in the last five years. So, is there a reason why franchises are moving out of Oakland? Let’s try to understand.
The Golden State Warriors (2019)
The Golden State Warriors were a team based in Oakland since 1971. Even though they had a history of being relocated several times before that, they stayed in Oakland for the longest time. The Oracle Arena hosted all their home games under different names over the years. It came to be known as the Oracle Arena in 2006.
The most interesting aspect of this relocation from Oakland to San Francisco was that the Warriors were at the peak of success in their franchise’s history. During the last four years of staying in Oakland, the team won three championships. However, the owners wanted to move mainly due to financial reasons.
The Oracle Arena was old and didn’t have the necessary amenities that were required in modern-day sports. The administration was already working on building the Chase Center since 2013. But the biggest reason behind this move was that they wanted to increase the ticket price as their team was the best in the league in that decade.
San Francisco was a more lucrative market than Oakland. Additionally, the team was not losing out on anything because the fans in Oakland were likely to remain GSW fans even after the move. Essentially, this decision to relocate was made to increase the team’s revenue per season.
The Oakland Raiders (2020)
The Oakland Raiders were the second team to move away from the city. Now, they are known as the Las Vegas Raiders. Interestingly, the Raiders were founded in Oakland in 1960 and they stayed there till 1981. In 1982, they moved to Los Angeles to kickstart the LA era.
But it didn’t last long and they relocated back to Oakland in 1995.
From 1995 to 2019, they represented the city of Oakland before moving their home base to Las Vegas. Once again, money played a major role in making the franchise relocate. During their time in Oakland, they had to share an old stadium with the Oakland Athletics and it wasn’t doing justice for either of the teams. So, the Raiders were the first ones to make that call.
Fortunately, they had a great offer that they simply couldn’t refuse. They were welcomed in Las Vegas with a $1.9 billion Allegiant Stadium, which was built on a $750 million public subsidy. On January 22, 2020, the Raiders officially moved into their new home, marking the beginning of another glorious chapter in the franchise’s history.
Raiders owner Mark Davis spoke about the move from Oakland to Las Vegas and blamed the Athletics for the same. As per the Las Vegas Review-Journal, he said,
“I won’t forget what they did to us in Oakland. They squatted on a lease for 10 years and made it impossible for us to build on that stadium. They were looking for a stadium. We were looking for a stadium. They didn’t want to build a stadium, and then went ahead and signed a 10-year lease with the city of Oakland and said, ‘We’re the base team.’”
Being forced into co-existing with the Athletics didn’t allow the Raiders to make changes to the Oakland stadium. Amidst the growing frustration, they decided it would be best if they accepted an offer from somewhere else.
The team had a warm farewell game from the home fans as the average ticket price went up to $312, which was 45% higher than the ticket prices in the entire season. Once again, money drove a team away from Oakland.
The Oakland Athletics (2024)
The Oakland Athletics have become the third team to move out of Oakland in the last five years. Interestingly, they were portrayed as one of the reasons why the Raiders could no longer stay in the city. However, only four years after they moved out, the Athletics have also decided to join them in Las Vegas from 2028.
Not having a good stadium and not receiving any help from the city regarding the same was the reason why the Athletics decided to move out.
In 2018, the team proposed a waterfront ballpark called the Howard Terminal project, which was expected to be a 35000-seat venue. As years went by, there was no significant progress seen in the development of that project. In 2021, the team was informed that due to Covid, the venue building plans have taken a hit. That is when the Athletics decided to explore other options.
Certain common themes are present in every story. The primary reason can be said to be a lack of support that teams were getting from the city of Oakland. Not having a good infrastructure can have damaging effects on any team and these major league teams don’t want to risk their future by staying there.
Another major reason is the financial aspect, which was the biggest factor when the Warriors moved out of Oakland. In the end, franchise owners would do everything in their power to ensure that their revenue is going up.
However, teams moving away isn’t good for the reputation of Oakland and they need to look into it.
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