Blog fave Dave Newhouse reports on a panel held for the four leading Oakland mayoral candidates about two major sports issues affecting Oakland. The one with the most ink is the matter of whether the Golden State Warriors will finally adopt the Oakland moniker. I suspect the answer for incoming W’s owners Joe Lacob and Peter Guber lies in money. Chris Cohan hinted a long time ago that some amount of relief from the team’s lease might do it. It’s not clear whether the same thing would satisfy the new owners. There is also some question as to what value each designation has. Is “Oakland Warriors” more or less valuable as a brand than “Golden State Warriors?” Some sports marketing folks out there know the answer to that better than I do.
Following that question of pride was a question about a pending fall. All four were asked to address the A’s situation:
(Jean) Quan: “I think this (city) is the soul of Major League Baseball — great diversity, ethnically and income-wise. I met Lew Wolff after I got elected. He didn’t say ‘girlie,’ but almost. There’s not a transit-rich (baseball) site that’s more ready to go in the entire Bay Area than ‘Victory Court’ (in Jack London Square). We own most of it, and could develop it as an entertainment (center).”
(Rebecca) Kaplan: “I love the A’s. Lew Wolff felt (Mayor) Jerry Brown didn’t care. The A’s could succeed here very well. I believe we could have a football and baseball stadium on the Coliseum site. We own the land. San Jose is not a done deal. They have a local law that requires a ballot measure, and they did not put it on the November ballot. So there’s a window of opportunity here.”
(Joe) Tuman: “I’ll be blunt. In professional sports, it’s ‘show me the money.’ … I won’t spend a dime of public money on keeping the Oakland Athletics here when I can’t pay for police officers or keep the streets safe. I’m not saying it can’t work, but let’s be objective.”
(Don) Perata: “I probably know a little more about this stuff than most people. I was part of two Raider deals that both failed. We got held up; we really did — by both (the A’s and Raiders). We got rid of the Coliseum board and then politicized it. … In retrospect, it was a disaster. I don’t think the A’s are going to stay here. We can’t play in this game, putting up the money. We haven’t been smart with our franchises.”
So from this, we can gather that one candidate backs Victory Court, another backs a Coliseum-sited ballpark, another won’t put up a dime, and the frontrunner has given up. Well, no one can ever say Oakland lacks diversity, and that goes for sports politics too.
According to this DIY poll by TellFi (via The Oakbook), Perata is garnering 34% of the vote, with Quan at 27%, Kaplan at 16%, and Tuman at 10%. If Perata and his rather brutally honest mindset prevails, it’s probably curtains for MLB in Oakland. Absent a simple majority, Perata would have to win via the instant runoff that would occur on election day.
Strangely, Newhouse follows up Perata’s comment by writing, “But we’ve been smart enough to keep them.” I’m not sure that smart is the operative word, Dave.
(Thanks, Ed)
Quick postscript: I wonder how linusalf will spin this Newhouse article? Update 10/8: He finally did, and it doesn’t say much. Also, supposedly Lowell Cohn was on Ken Dito’s show this morning and is no longer opposing a move south because of Oakland’s inaction. Wonders never cease.
newballpark.org 
Let’s see: Caltrain, ACE, Amtrak/CC, VTA light-rail/bus, future BART/high-speed rail, including Altamont HSR overlay from Central Valley. I think Quan meant to say “Diridon South/SJ” in terms of transit-rich site that is ready to go ;o). By the way, if Perata doesn’t think the A’s “are going to stay here,” then it’s definetely game over! OT, been watching some KRON and KNBC over the past two hours, and now I must admit; I’m sure getting tired of all of this “Giants fever!” crap. OK, we get it; the Giants are in the playoff’s!
Hate to agree with Tony D, but it’s true, it is over for Oakland. Perata is the front runner with less than a month to go looks like he is going to be the next mayor of Oakland. With that he sees the fiscal constraint the City has. They are laying off police officers and business community is shrinking. With Clorox moving most of its operations to Pleasanton, it is just a continuing trend where business are leaving Oakland.
http://www.pleasantonweekly.com/news/show_story.php?id=5242
Besides, San Jose is leaps and bounds ahead in planning the A’s move.
WTF is Perata talking about. Oakland got held up by the A’s? In what way? The only ones who got held up were the A’s themselves by Oakland. Or more accurately they got railroaded in their own stadium. But whatever. If he’s the front runner, and two of the other three won’t support a realistic new ballpark (Truman outright and Kaplan is out to lunch if she believes another ballpark at the Coliseum is a viable option), then it is truly over for Oakland regardless of what the Blue Ribbon Panel decides. Now the only question is will the A’s move to San Jose or are they leaving the Bay Area altogether as the Giants would like to see. Either way, the end game is here for the Oakland Athletics.
Gotta say I am pretty shocked by Perata’s comments. I thought he would fight for the A’s. He even greases the wheels by saying the Raiders AND the A’s “held up” Oakland with the Raiders deal. WTF? Perata strikes me as a pretty pragmatic politician. Could it be he knows a new stadium in Oakland is a losing issue? This is a pretty significant revelation and the owners meeting is two weeks after election day.
Kudos to Perata for his honesty, though I’m not sure I understand his statement about the A’s holding up the City of Oakland.
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It certainly does seem like the end of the road for the A’s in Oakland. Knowing the candidates’ stance with regard to the ballpark, I’d be surprised if MLB were to deny the A’s access to San Jose. Doing so would effectively spell the end of the A’s here in the Bay Area.
FC you just voiced my biggest concern. That MLB for some reason or another wants the A’s out of Oakland. I have no real basis for my fears yet I’ll freely admit that, but I am concerned with Selig’s history of loathing toward having a second team in the Bay Area and his seeming disinterest in his own frat buddy that something may be in the offing to off the A’s from the region.
He may mean the lease concessions that Schott got in the aftermath of the Mt. Davis renovation. Although I’m not sure what leverage the A’s had (since they had nowhere to move to), so I think it was more the A’s saying, “You screwed us, we want concessions” and Oakland saying, “Uh, OK.”
Perata’s past A’s comments have left me speechless many a time. He’s been in lala-land about the whole situation for a long time. But damn, did he just raise the white flag, or what?! That’s amazing! Contrast the lukewarm overtures from the candidates to that recent letter from the SVLG. Where would you feel welcomed if you were MLB? Once again, Perata leaves me gobsmacked.
So the guy who’s supposed to save the A’s for Oakland – Perata – has already given up. OK
I don’t consider Perata the guy who’s supposed to save the A’s in Oakland, but he’s the one guy who can get it done. He clearly doesn’t want the burden if elected.
Exactly. We can start saying Last Rites for the A’s in Oakland…
Brian… The A’s sued the City of Oakland and won. Bcause Oakland screwed the A’s.
That settles it, I’m voting for Quan (if i was an Oakland resident). Actually, I’m a big Rebecca Kaplan fan, and her idea for the Raiders and A’s make the most sense, but I’m for VC all the way.
as much as i want my hometown team to stay in oakland, it’s just too much to ignore all the bad signs pointing to the team leaving. it almost reminds me of one of those bad maury shows where the jilted wife is on his show hoping beyond hope that her man isn’t creeping behind her back when he’s already done it to her in the past, comes home at night smelling like perfume, lipstick on the shirt, strange phone calls from odd numbers at night etc. everyone can point out the obvious and clearly a lie detector test isn’t needed, but there she is, making castles in the sky and being spoon fed whatever bs her mans’ telling her even though they both know the undeniable truth. but they insist on playing the game to the bitter end.
so in short, i think we’re to a large degree fooling ourselves if we want to believe that oakland’s got a viable path to keeping the a’s. internal politics, external politics, economics and so on. fisher and co have been quite efficient in montrealizing oakland a’s baseball. oakland’s broke and will be broke for a while to come and if the popular polititions don’t even bother trying to be vague about the team’s prospects for staying in the city to dangle some sort of hope…
^agreed as one who was born and has lived my entire life here in oakland, i think the writing is definitely on the wall that the a’s and oakland will not be in any kind relationship beyond 2015 or so.
i was pro oakland for much of the 2000s but reality set in around a few years ago and at this point as an oakland resident, i’m rooting for the sj project to go thru as that’s imo the best and only option at this point in keeping the a’s here in the bay long term.
jk,
I’m sure all Oakland residents will now vote for Quan, knowing she supports keeping the A’s in town at all costs (the hell with police service, crime, schools and the economy). Which brings up an interesting thought: I’ve always wondered what the average Oakland citizen thinks of efforts (or lack thereof) to keep the A’s within city limits, as opposed to what all of us out of towners think. I’m sure there opinions would disappoint some here; oh well. OT again: did the A’s receive as much favorable playoffs press back in 06 as the Giants are now? I can’t recall.
Come on Tony, you know how it works. The A’s don’t receive as much press for winning the world series as the Giants are getting now. No other local team does, not even the 49ers. I never have and never will understand why every local media outlet fawns all over the Giants who are the least deserving of the local teams. Even the Warriors have won a championship. Yet it’s the Giants who get buildings lit up in their colors and have everyone kissing their feet for barely making the playoffs once a decade.
Perata is bitter because of Schott suing the Coliseum Authority/City of Oakland when they reneged on their agreement to renovate the Coliseum for baseball only.
Instead they spent 200 million on the Raiders returning not caring what it would do to the A’s. Schott got 16 million and major lease concessions because of this and in turn infuriated the City and Coliseum Authority.
Schott easily won the lawsuit and he was right to sue them at the time. He also offered to pay for $300 million of a $400 million ballpark in Oakland that was “ignored”. One can infer the bad blood after the lawsuit as evidence of why this was ignored by Oakland at the time.
Perata knows exactly the politics involved here and if Oakland wanted to keep the A’s that window has long shut years ago because of all this drama.
Perata knows this and isn’t even willing to “play politics” around this in one bit as to him it is pretty clear the A’s are heading to San Jose.
Kaplan and Quan are “idealists” while I give Joe Tuman kudos for speaking the truth.
@Sid, one correction… Schott offered $100M for a $400M stadium on the Coliseum Parking Lot. But, it is true that Oakland backers always leave that sort of detail out.
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Reality is, Oakland destroyed the A’s business model by building half a football stadium. It was such a short sighted move and, if things move on their current trajectory, it wouldn’t be a shock to see the Raiders and A’s playing in a different city altogether as a result.
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Of course, this is all Lew Wolff’s fault…
a decade from now. a’s in could be in sj. raiders in sc to share a new stadium with the niners. w’s in sf.
oakland could easily see all their three sports teams currently playing in another city. if that were to happen, what would they do with both the coliseum and arena? was posted a few months back where there was a scenario where mt davis could be turned into some kind of office building.
If the San Jose ballpark ends up being built, it’ll be interesting to see if Wolff has his name honored somewhere around the ballpark similar to Haas at the Coliseum.
re: media coverage
Not to beat a dead horse, but the Giants parade Mays, McCovey and others around on a yearly basis. They continually market their history. There are books and videos routinely put out on their time in SF. With all that material on their history and tradition floating around in the Giants-sphere for fans to feast on, of course every sports fan in the Bay Area is gonna know about it. Fans like feeling they’ve shared a history with the team. It strengthens the bond between the team and fans. Media outlets aren’t at fault. It’s the A’s organization.
They need to parade some more great A’s around. They could include more acknowledgement of their history around the Coliseum. They could compile an almanac on their Oakland-based years in some nice packaging with supplemental multimedia material. There are many things they could do right now to start sowing the seeds of fandom with current and future fans. If they could pull off, they could have a generation of fans well steeped in A’s history and tradition. Recently, the Giants had Will Clark, Jeff Kent, JT Snow and several others chillin’ watching a game. It’d be great to see them convince Big Mac to fly out for a weekend, even Canseco. The cats been out of the bag for a while concerning steroids. Fans don’t care—they’d love it. I’d love it. If they promoted that night well, they’d have a packed house and give the fans something special to talk about for years to come.
they did a bit of that on 70s night when they celebrated rudi and a couple of former a’s greats show up.
rickey, who probably is the best player in this org’s history, has been hanging out with the a’s this season more so than he or anybody close to his stature has. he was there in st working with the a’s players and even was in the a’s dugouts late in the season too. a’s have a great history and yes it’s there fault they haven’t celebrated as much as they should. now they shouldn’t overdue to imo sfg does when they celebrate divisional “champs” as they’ve done in recent years.
but there aren’t a ton of “great” a’s players that are available. rickey is one and thank goodness he’s showing up and should stick around with the org as some kind of ambassador. but the others? reggie is associated with the nyy. eck does redsox broadcasting during the season. mac is a stl coach and i doubt anybody wanted to be associated with him over the past decade nor do i think he wanted to be in the public up until recently. forget about canseco, it’s been said before if canseco were involved in any kind of reunion, nobody else would show up as his teammates can’t stand his ass.
i do hope when the a’s have settled on a new place to play for decades to come, that they do celebrate their history more. as it’s been mentioned many times when those first images of the new park were made public, that an a’s hof is a must at that new park. so would be adding some statues of former a’s greats. rickey, eck, foxx, grove, simmons, reggie, mack should be considered.
No matter what happens, the people of Oakland always lose. Every single time. I wish somebody, anybody on Earth actually gave a s^&* about Oakland.
@ letsgoas
Agreeed. There are plenty of A’s to choose from. I know they all have other day jobs now, but it wouldn’t be impossible to fly some out for a weekend. I remember those quotes (from Carney Lansford?) about general feelings towards Canseco. However, it’d be for the fans. Once they’re out on the field soaking up the applause, I think difference could be set aside for 15 mins. Big Mac only played in STL but that didn’t stop the Cards from putting up of their Big Mac Land at Busch II and Busch III. Mark McGwire knocked out 363 in Oakland and was a part of 3 straight World Series, but it’s the Cardinals, as a fan-base and franchise, that embraced him even after the steroids story ran its course.
Not to be too cynical, but do you know that game “Slug Bug,” where you playfully punch someone when you see an out of state license plate? My fiance and I play that when we see people wearing former Athletics jerseys/shirts we see at games. BEN GRIEVE! *slug*
Jeepers,
It could be argued that Perata does give a shit about Oakland by not wanting to “waste time” on the A’s or proffesional sports.
Just saying.
@Briggs–if Cisco Field flies, I’m sure they’ll be a huge statue of Wolff right in front of the main entrance, inscribed how this great man saved the A’s and is part of the downtown Renaissance of SJ. They got one of BS at Miller Park. Why not his frat buddy Lewie?
i don’t think even a’s fans would cheer canseco. he was a polarizing figure when he was with the a’s even in his first stint. with this antics both on and off the field the past decade, he’d be sort the black sheep of a’s “great” players the org could invite.
I invite everyone to take a peek at the Warriors new logos (specifically secondary Logos A, a Golden California with a “W” over the Bay Area, and B, a blue basketball with “SF” on it). That should answer any questions about potential name changes… I wouldn’t be surprised if the Warriors change their name from “Golden State” to “San Francisco” regardless of where they play. I would be pretty surprised if they went by “Oakland.”
w’s will never go by the name of oakland. they’ve had chance after chance the past few decades but never because those snobbish west bay “w’s fans” wouldn’t like it. i know because i’ve debated with many of them over the years and they’ve said many times they’d instantly would disown the w’s if they changed their name to oakland. pretty stupid though, they are rooting for an oakland team even though they’re not named oakland. their hqs and practice facility are in downtown oakland, they played at oracle.
and yeah that secondary logo of sf is a slap to the face of oakland fans. so was the classic sf unis unveiled last year at home games.
funny thing is steinmitz who follows the w’s for csn has said the majority of fans who actually attend w’s fans are from oakland/east bay. he also mentioned that if the w’s do move out of oakland, that the passion that if felt at oracle won’t follow them to a sf arena. i’m not a true blue w’s fan, kind of neutral about them. really don’t care if they win or lose as i do with my mlb and nfl teams i root for. but if they do move to sf, then screw em and hopefully ellison buys the kings or grizzles and moves them to sj.
@Tony, it could be said, but I wouldn’t agree with it. It isn’t a waste of time, and mostly he cares about being elected.
I just threw up in my mouth at the notion of a statue of Bud Selig. Is it at least wearing a clip-on tie in front of a Ford Pinto with a “now $1,995!” sticker on the windshield?
How’s this: If the A’s move to SJ, they should just change the name to San Fransisco A’s. They’ll for sure pack them in and get national exposure. People all over love SF and diss Oakland all they can, and really don’t know much or care about SJ. (Lot of techies work in SV, but live in SF. SJ too boring for them). Just look at the LA Angels after the name change. They’ve never been more popular.
@jk-usa – Your ignorance of the Silicon Valley continues to astound and entertain me.
yep that’s why sj has a larger population than the ol might city of sf.
not to mention it’s the 10th biggest city population wise in the entire country. some tech company ceos already have said that’d they only support an “SJ” team.
Well, I like that they’re incorporating the new eastern span of the bridge. But yeah, that’s pretty much nullified by the SF logo. Maybe they can keep the logo up to date with construction progress, with cranes and scaffolding moving about the bridge throughout the next couple of years.
@ML–i knew you’d get a kick out of it!!!
@Jeffrey
Yes, absolutely. The SF secondary logo makes it pretty clear the Warriors would like (at least patrial) association with San Francisco.
To be fair to the Warriors about distancing themselves from Oakland, they never claimed to be Oakland’s team. They were doing their thing in the Bay Area for a while before moving into the Coliseum Arena– and that move was simply because it was the best basketball venue in the Bay Area.
Though, regarding the branding refresh, I approve– though only because the previous uniforms & logos were some of the worst in the NBA. The new look is still kinda bland and generic, but it could be worse. I’m going to the game this Friday so I’ll hold my final verdict until seeing them in person.
@ML – Best comment ever.
@Briggs–I do give credit to former lousy W’s owner Chris Cohan by actually having his hdqtrs and awesome practice facility in downtown Oakland. Too bad an arena wasn’t there close by. I would of loved to see Kaiser Yards for the A’s and the Oracle Arena for the W’s in the heart of Uptown. Better than any site SJ has to offer. An Urban setting, unlike SJ’s Sub-urban setting.
@Zuko–you don’t read too many comments it sounds like. All you SJ rah rah’s here don’t intimidate me. Lets face it, it’s a big, spread out, boring, but fairly affluent area, that will always be in the shadow of SF. Deal with it! I’ve dealt with the Oakland bashing my whole life (i’ve lived right near there and have had several jobs there), and I like the underdog, blue-collar image it has. SJ has all this money like Meg Whitman but still can’t get any respect.
I honestly don’t get the “SJ Suburban setting” stuff. Diridon isn’t suburban, it is a lot like LODO in Denver, or China Basin in that it is adjacent the core downtown area and will easily be connected to it. To me, Diridon is to San Jose what Uptown is to Oakland.
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Both would be great places for a ballpark.
Perata is a corrupt idiot. He was a major factor in bringing back the Raiders and thereby ruining the Coliseum for baseball and bankrupting Oakland. I wouldn’t vote for him for dog catcher, and yet he will probably win. Yet Lew and Bud must share the blame for the demise of the Oakland A’s, and as an A’s fan for 30 years, I am disgusted by their deceitful actions. I feel abandoned by my city and my team.
Lol at jk….. Oh my god, what a clown…You were doin so well when the 980 concept came out and now that Perata has waved the white flag, you can’t stand the attention sj is getting. What an immature, sorry excuse for a human being. You gotta be 16 yrs old. Either that or a complete LOOSER!!! Log off dude. Your city is finished in the race for the Athletics. Maybe you’ll get lucky and catch some motorcross at the Coli! Lmao!!!
re: (Lot of techies work in SV, but live in SF
…Until they get married and have children. Then it’s bye bye Frisco. Fewest # of children of any large city in the country.
@ Larry E
Harsh. No need to get personal.
@Jerry–i feel your pain. Perata may be leading in the polls but may not get a 50% majority. The ranking of the other candidates will determine the winner, so if Quan can get more 2nd and 3rd place votes than Perata, she may pull this off. Should be interesting.
@LarryE–you don’t have to be such a douche-bag. BTW, I’m 48 years old, and have been a die-hard Oakland A’s fan since 1971, seeing over 1200 games in person, my first game being when Vida Blue threw a 1 hitter on my 9th birthday. I’ve been hooked ever since. I bleed green and gold, but not if they go to SJ. In the meantime, NEVER respond to my posts EVER again. Jerks like you give the Internet a bad name.
@jk-usa
I’m not trying to start anything, but just curious– why would you not follow the A’s if they moved to SJ?
Jk,
You’re not even a citizen of Oakland, yet you’re pulling for a mayoral candidate just because she’s an “idealist” to your VC fantasies.
Running a city is more than just building ballparks for out of towners like yourself. Maybe, just maybe, this is why Perata is ahead in Oak polls.
@Briggs–I can’t do it. The A’s are Oakland in my eyes and heart. I feel this city has been bitch-slapped for too many years by SF and everyone else. They can’t get a break for nothing, but feel they’re on the comeback. If they lose all 3 teams, that would be horrible. I wish the politicians would fight for them harder, but I know the cold reality is that it takes money. I will always cherish all the memories at the Coli. Not sure I can be an SF fan–I’m east bay all the way,with the A’s at #1, the W’s, and R’s a distant 3rd. Not sure, but I may give up sports altogether. I’ve invested so much of myself, my time , my money, and to have them pull the rug underneath you, it really sucks. Anytime a franchise leaves, it sucks, being the 2 NY teams years ago, the Philly A’s, the Montreal Expo’s, etc…SJ may be down the road, but it might as well be 3000 miles away. It won’t be the same A’s I know and love.
I’m still hoping for a miracle, but have this real sinking feeling now.
Larry E… bad form. Really bad form.
I’m sorry guys, it had to be said. Enough is enough. He s bashed my town long enough. I tried being nice to this guy. He s just a troll! I’m sorry ML and Jeffrey, but it’s true. I understand a ban, but I had to do it. Nice doesn’t work with this guy.
@Jeffrey–if Oakland somehow pulls this off and VC becomes a reality, I’m inviting all the regulars on here (except for the evil LarryE.) to some Belgian suds at the Trappist in Old Oakland. My treat. Yes, I’m the underdog of this crazy dream I wish would finally end. But just think of the 1980 Olympic Hockey team times the 1969 Mets times the 1988 Dodgers times 100 and you got the A’s playing in 2015 at VC!!
@Larry E – Lighten up. No need to rub it in.
ML, fair enough.
JK – I’m more shocked than anything that you will give up on the A’s if they go to SJ, especially being a non-resident. And calling SJ strictly a suburban area devoid of activity and such is just pure ignorance. I’m glad though that you recognize how much of a pipedream VC is. Acceptance is the first part of going coming out of this depressive stage and bidding Oakland farewell….too bad you won’t be an A’s fan anymore though. 😦
I’d have to question the loyalty of any “fan” who would completely drop what had been lifetime support of a team just because they moved a whole 25 miles.
Could we not question other fans’ loyalties? Everyone has a right to appreciate the team however he/she sees fit. There’s nothing wrong with wrapping the city identity into it. For some of us, that’s not the case. No one’s a better or worse fan because of it.
You probably shouldn’t combat the city-versus-city mentality by attacking another’s city (even if they live elsewhere).
I just spent the evening hanging out with Giants fans watching the game. Number one reason why I don’t diss the Giants (team & fans) is that when the A’s reach the post season, I expect each one of them to be watching the A’s in October whether or not the Giants are there. The business dealing of each team can’t affect the way I feel about the action on the field. Otherwise you may as well stop enjoying baseball because those are things fans can’t control. On a side note, telling people you’re an A’s fan is like telling them you have a third nipple. They just look at you weird and don’t know how to respond.
@Briggs, there are more A’s fans who are casually supporting the Giants than most people think. I was following the playoffs open thread for today’s games at Athletics Nation and there were more than a few posters there actually rooting for the Giants. I think it is the super hardcore fans who dislike the Giants. It just so happens that most A’s fans you read on internet message boards fall into this category. OTOH, I think most Giants fans are completely ambivalent of the A’s with some of their hardcore fans hating us.
I can’t hate Giants fans. I have too many coworkers, neighbors, friends and family who are fans. And I was happy for every one of them tonight. I can’t hate the team itself either. I just don’t understand the inequality of the press coverage. I also don’t appreciate their ownership being jerks about territorial rights, given where they came from in the first place. I can separate that from the fanbase and players on the field though.
@Jeffrey- My bad on the $100 M vs. $300M figure on my earlier post. Got the #s mixed up and I gave Schott and Hoffman too much credit. Ha!
Regardless of who wins the race to be the next Oakland Mayor all 3 sports teams will never see another dime of public funds for their arenas/stadiums.
Perhaps some redevelopment funds could be use but in order for any new/renovated stadium/arena to get done is one of two sources as noted below:
A. General Fund money – In this economy there is no way any city in the US will pony up $$. The Florida Marlins and New Jersey Nets were the last to accomplish this but most financing was lined before 2008 and the market crash. The Nets I believe have a lot of private money in their development, the Marlins are getting a brand new place on Miami-Dade County pretty much.
B. Privately- What the A’s and 49ers are proposing in Silicon Valley outside of use of redevelopment funds.
The way things are now and for the foreseeable future only places like Silicon Valley can pull new stadiums without General Fund money.
After the 49ers and A’s succeed with their privately financed stadiums you will not see anything new prop up for several years. Raiders would be smart to jump in with the 49ers now because no way they can build a new place in Oakland without the 49ers with them.
The 49ers do not need the Raiders as they have the support of Silicon Valley to make this happen on their own.
The Warriors will be in San Francisco by 2017 or so and the Kings will more than likely come to San Jose therefore Oakland will be left with zero teams by the end of this decade….I would not doubt it.
@ Chris
I agree. There are probably many A’s fans that causually root for the Giants. Though, not me in this particular series. I grew up in the 1980’s just about 30 mins outside Atlanta, GA. I’m pulling for the Braves. But, yeah. I’ll hang out with Giants fans if they’re paying for the pizza.
I will be happy if the Braves eliminate the Giants, a big part because I don’t like the Giants at all, and I’m already sick of all the “Giants Playoff Fever!” I’m seeing posted on various sites. Really though I’m rooting for Hudson, he was one of my favorite players back then. So win win if the Giants get eliminated. Also I don’t appreciate a couple of my Giants fan friends texting me when they clinched, when they know I despise them. I will have something sweet to send them once the Giants are toast!
Somewhat regarding the SF W’s secondary logo and just my speculation: it’s possible that the A’s will switchout out the “Oakland” from their road grays for the standard “Athletics” script logo similar to how the Angels quietly replaced the “Anaheim” with “Angels” on their road grays following the ’03 season.
Synchronizing the A’s road grays with their home whites, alternate black and green uniforms seems like the easiest way to begin distancing their brand from the Oakland name. Probably not in 2011, but at some point and they could probably pull it off without alarming most fans.
I despise the Giants and root for whoever is playing them. Go Braves!! How can an A’s fan root for a team whose ownership wants to send your team far, far away?
I’m right there with you pjk. Go Braves!
regarding the black a’s unis, i don’t the a’s wore them other than on home games.
fact is i think the a’s wore their grey “oakland” road unis more than they ever did wear the green tops when they played road games this season.
Yes, its one of many rumors, and on the face of it, seems rather unlikely, but a few broadcast execs in town say it could happen.
Could the just- departed-from KGO, Mickey Luckoff, eventually take control of KTRB, (late of Pappas Broadcasting and now under bank receivership) and along the way, bring a few of his KGO buds with him?
Let’s look at some of the facts, shall we?
One thing’s for sure: Luckoff said publicly that he’s looking at other “projects” and plans to write a book. We know he’s not headed to KSFO, which is KGO’s sister station and a Citadel property.
A source close to Luckoff told me Thursday that he wants to be an agent. Could happen, but that would appear to be a down-the-road project.
Back to KTRB: It has 50,000 watts, (ironically right next to KGO on the dial at 860 AM) and conceivably could be purchased for nickels on the dollar. It has existing contractual obligations with the Oakland A’s and Stanford football, so logically that could be a potential roadblock to a “news-talk” format, but there’s still ample airtime available for a blend of news, talk, and sports.
http://richliebermanreport.blogspot.com/2010/10/could-luckoff-buy-ktrb-and-take-few-kgo.html
if this were to happen, pretty much kiss the 24 hour sports gone although really i only listen to 3-4 hours at best of the programming on 860, not including the a’s. hope they keep tittle at least, the one who actually takes calls thru out his show.
but definitely could see room for “news programming” in the afternoon and maybe into night.
@letsgoas – You and Big Vinny are making a lot of leaps there. Fact is we have no idea how many suitors are lining up to buy the station, nor do we know who they are neither who they’d hire. When something substantive on that front happens we can discuss it in earnest. For now it’s rather pointless.
Speaking of KTRB, Lowell Cohn was on earlier and apparently is no longer opposing a move south, due to Oakland’s inaction.
@ letsgoas
Yup. The black uniforms were solely for home games while the green uniforms were for the road. The starting pitcher generally chooses that game’s uniforms and each pitcher tends to stick with one color fairly consistantly. Gio practically always chose the black uniforms for his home starts and the green uniforms for his road starts as did Duke (barely remembered he pitched this season). Braden generally stuck with the whites and greys. I tend to believe that the starting pitcher’s choice in uniform was based entirely on the color they preferred rather than choosing whether or not to wear “Oakland” on their chest.
i’d honestly love to see the a’s bring back a gold/yellow unis top.
that color isn’t as integrated within the a’s logo and or color scheme as i’d like it to be.
Definitely. In the same way the black and green uniforms are simple variations of the home whites, I’d be happy with a yellow version. The idea might sound hidious, but I have a feeling they’d end up looking better than they sound, similar to the Giants’ Orange Friday uniforms– which was something I wanted to see them do for a while.
I would love to see the A’s bring back the vests.
Regarding KTRB (XTra Sports 860), I’ve noticed that the Rick Tittle’s show from 10am-Noon, is now filled with callers wall-to-wall. Tittle is a huge A’s fan probably the only huge A’s fan in media in the Bay Area. Back in April, he was begging for callers. I’ve also noticed that KTRB has much better advertisements. Last year they played a lot of PSAs and what not. Now KTRB plays normal ads that you find on any other AM station. Hopefully, they can find a buyer that wants to keep an all sports format.
Giant’s playoff tickets are going for big bucks on stubhub and the like. I’ve never paid over list price on any sporting event EVER. Not worth it. Some of these band wagon fans are spending $250 for bleacher seats and triple that in other sections for the FIRST ROUND! . Being a season ticket holder for most of the last 30 years with the A’s, I’ve gotten great seats at list price. In 1989, playoffs were $35 and WS was $50 in section 220, where I sat. Scalpers were getting maybe $250-300, but this was the Bay Bridge series. Sounds like a bargain back then.
Rick Tittle puts on a great show. I also hope he’s able to continue his show. I appreciate his honest enthusiasm for East Bay sports. On an episode earlier this year, he made a point of reminding listeners that they were the Oakland A’s. He didn’t bust out into a rant or anything, but he was clearly implying that they’re Oakland’s team. I can’t assume he necessarily anti-San Jose, but it sounds like he’d prefer they remain in Oakland. Pro-Oakland guys, there’s a valuable mouth piece. Give his show a call and be heard.
RE: Playoff ticket prices:
Simply supply and demand. Have you looked into the Mariners and Angels’ regular season pricing? When I’m planning mini-road trips to catch the A’s out of town, I’m always reminded of how good A’s fans have it (for now). Though, the A’s extremely low priced seats haven’t enticed many fan to show up while the relatively higher ticket prices in Seattle and Anaheim haven’t kept fans away.
JK,
Contrast Giants tickets this year with A’s ALCS ticket resales in 2006. I had trouble getting face value for the 2 extra bleacher tickets I had for the ALCS game 2. I posted the tickets at face value days before the game and ended up getting someone to bite for a few hours before first pitch.
@gojohn10–i hear you. Not a huge demand for A’s playoff tix the last 10 years (except NY) and they struggled in 1992 in playoffs against Toronto. Great if your an A’s fan, bad if you’re a scalper.
TB is getting close to capacity this year in playoffs, but it looks like their Texas toast.
also not very good if you are the A’s.
860? be interesting to see the ratings for 860 in oct and nov when there are no a’s games scheduled. 860 doesn’t get that great of ratings when the a’s are on anyways, been averaging around a 0.3-0.4 during the season which is pretty bad. that’s in sf/oak, still find it amusing that 860 in sj almost doubles the ratings that it gets here in sf/oak area. but a lot of sports stations have a slight ratings drop in the offseason when thel season is over.
will 860’s ratings drop now that the a’s aren’t on in the winter time? can the non baseball programming on 860 continue to have the ratings from oct-feb that they were starting to get late in the baseball season in aug/sep.
You guys recall when BS said that it was a horrible mistake that the A’s moved to Oakland, that they hurt the Giants badly? He has it all backwards.The Giant’s hurt the A’s badly from becoming the big thing in the bay area. The A’s have had more winners, and more colorful teams than the Giant’s could ever dream of. I wish they went to TB back in 1992 and the A’s could of owned the bay area. Maybe SJ would of gotten an expansion team or the Expos or something.
@jk-usa – Sure, no problem if someone else’s city gets pissed on, as long as it isn’t Oakland. Nice.
Except that Oakland has dismissed the A’s for so long, that the A’s and MLB are finally returning the favor. Selig has said MLB won’t stay in a place that doesn’t want major league baseball and Oakland certainly has done enough to give the appearance of that.
@ML–I do hate when cities lose teams and all should be dome to keep them where they are. It was a shame that Montreal lost their team. Toronto’s now struggling. The once great venue not so great now. Probably need an outdoor, baseball only facility to survive. They’ve had crowds around 10k too this year, just like Baltimore, Pitt and Cleveland. If the A’s had any of those parks, they’d get more than 10k in a bad year. I keep saying look at the Giants since 2000.
@jk-usa – Toronto is not hurting. They have zero debt, own Rogers Centre, and have the luxury of Canadian TV exclusivity. They’re not going anywhere.
Marine Layer, Have you seen this? https://citizen-media.s3.amazonaws.com/uploaded/documents/2010/10/new-raiders-stadium/Oakland%20Public%20Presentation%20%2810%201%2010%29.pdf
Apparently the feasibility study for a new football only stadium at the Coliseum was finally completed this past week, a lot of interesting information for a possible new stadium for both the Raiders and 49ers. Both teams should keep their options open for either a potential stadium at SC or the Coliseum site.
As far as the Raiders attendance issues, regardless where the team plays, one thing they really need to do badly is to modernize their front office and bring in an actual GM, having Al Davis make most of the major decisions these last 8 years has not helped the team obviously.
@A’sRaidersFan – I had not. Thanks for the link! I’ll give it a read and post.
@A’sRaider Fan–interesting report–thanks for sharing–$150M of debt remaining on the Coli remodel–attendance stat’s were interesting–Oakland has never averaged full capacity since their return–closest was 60k—advocates another $114M investment by city of Oakland (TOT)– “time is of the essensce” to compete with Santa Clara—but nothing indicating what Oakland’s competitive advantage would be over an approved project in Santa Clara. Bottom line for Oakland they are once again late to the dance–Santa Clara/’9ers are 2 years ahead of them–crazy screwed up leadership in that city–
@ML–you think the Blue Jays will still play in that place for the long term? Domes are out, dude. Didn’t you get the memo? Attendance was 1.6 mill, their lowest in 28 years. I thought the deal was to get off as being a recipient of the revenue sharing.
Toronto also needs to play in a dome. They’re in Toronto. Unless someone has a perverse wish for cold weather games or snow.
Re: Raiders stadium report
* No public money available
* PSLs needed (Remember how that worked out in ’95? Disaster.)
And they are several steps behind the Santa Clara plan. Can Oakland be timely with anything? An Oakland stadium for both the Niners and Raiders is such a great idea but Oakland is so late to the game. Just drove by the Santa Clara site two days ago and the Coliseum site is so much better it isn’t even funny.
The average low in Toronto in April is 36, the same as in Minneapolis, which went topless this year.
Does anyone remember A’s roadtrips to old Exhibition Stadium? I’d never gone there, but I could feel the cold in my bones through the TV.
No problem, I knew when I saw this I had to post it at this blog. I know some think this potential stadium is a long shot but I don’t think it should be entirely dismissed either. While the SC site has voter approval and is further along its not quite a done deal yet. There was voter approval for that 49er football stadium back in 1997 but it fell through anyway. Both the Raiders and 49ers should use each others stadium plans as backups in case one fails. IMO I don’t think a new stadium will get built in the Bay Area unless both teams split the costs, as I am sure they are well aware of this. I also prefer the Coliseum Site to SC but I can live with the Raiders playing in SC if the Coliseum Plan doesn’t work out.
Ah, Exhibition Stadium. How they played major league games there as recently as the late ’80’s is amazing:
Awesome Ants/Braves game. The beard failed them in this one. I’m so happy for Bobby Cox and his team. The Giant’s are 1-3 in Atlanta this year, being outscored 14 to 8. They’re in trouble. Choked again. What else is new?
Man what bomb! Great ending to what I thought was another Braves loss early on. I used to have some level of respect for Brian Wilson because I like closers, but the mohawk, and now the jet black beard, and his jersey way too unbuttoned makes him look like a complete tool haha.
@Ralph- I love closers too, and enjoyed the total tool, Al Hrabosky of the St. Louis Cardinals back in the mid/late 70’s. Fu Manchu mustache, long hair, fun guy to watch. He would turn his back to the batter, walk towards second base, vigorously rub the ball between his palms several times, take a deep breath, and pound the ball into his mitt. He would then storm back to the mound, staring down the batter. Crowd would go crazy, but the batters hated it.
BTW, he was born in Oakland, and does color commentary for the Cardinal’s TV and hosts his own radio show in St.Louis.
@jk-usa- I just looked him up and the first picture I clicked brought me to an interesting site. Take a guess at who’s picture is headlining the page. http://www.unathleticmag.com/2010/08/13/seven-of-baseballs-all-time-most-psychotic-looking-closers/
@Raplh—lmao..good find, thanks. I miss Beck. One of the few Giant’s players I enjoyed watching. Died too young. “Wild Thing” Williams was a trip too.
I love baseball… for 15 innings, the Braves didn’t even look like they belonged in the playoffs… The whole season turns on every pitch.