A's fans send MLB owners 'Stay in Oakland' boxes
Relocation vote is set for Thursday Nov. 16
Major League Baseball owners are expected to approve the relocation of the Oakland Athletics to Las Vegas in a vote on Nov. 16.
In a last-ditch effort to persuade owners, a group of devoted Oakland fans in partner with Last Dive Bar, chose 15 different MLB owners to send ‘Stay in Oakland’ boxes to.
“This project has been a culmination of our collective works and we hope it shows the owners what we all know to be true. The fans are not the problem,” one of the three owners of Last Dive Bar, Paul Bailey, told The Associated Press.
The box included a green Athletics hat, a customized baseball card, a “Keep the Athletics in Oakland” postcard, and a personal note from Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao, including reasons to vote no on the planned relocation.
Thao explained in her letter that Oakland has secured public funding for a new ballpark.
"The proposed funding assistance for a new stadium development is thus nearly triple the $380M the A's have reportedly secured in Las Vegas, for a much smaller stadium project," Thao wrote in the letter obtained by ESPN. “There is a clear path to build a state-of-the-art new ballpark here in Oakland, and to do so just as expeditiously (if not more so) than in Las Vegas."
The box was sent to both large and small market teams.
A’s fans held multiple “reverse boycotts” during the 2023 season. One of the reverse boycott games had an attendance of 27,759 fans – nearly triple their average home attendance of 9,076.
Athletics pitcher Trevor May tore into A’s owner John Fisher while announcing his retirement in a video on Oct. 17.
“Sell the team, dude…Sell it, man,” May said in the video posted to his Twitch. “Let someone who actually, like, takes pride in the things they own, own something. There’s actually people who give a s--- about the game. Let them do it. Take mommy and daddy’s money somewhere else, dork.”
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A 75% vote is required to approve the move, though there are still some hurdles and questions about viability.
The biggest hurdle comes from Schools over Stadiums, a political action committee that wants to put the $380 million in funding for the stadium to a vote in November 2024. If the teachers’ union is successful, Manfred says it would disrupt the league’s plans.
The vote on Thursday still doesn’t answer the question of where the A’s will play after next year. Their lease in Oakland expires after the 2024 season.
The Athletics have called the Coliseum in the Bay Area home for the last 55 years.
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