Athletics President re: keeping the team in Oakland

[Max Rockatansky]

I guess the Tigers will have to move out of Detroit if you can't have casinos and a MLB team in the same city. Detroit has 3 casinos, Michigan as a state has 39.

https://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/36253087/wr-jameson-williams-four-lions-suspended-betting

I don't know, looks like the Lions may need some help.

The Lions need more help than anyone can give them.

The Lions would still find a way to still not win a playoff game even with divine intervention.

[Flint1979]

I guess the Tigers will have to move out of Detroit if you can't have casinos and a MLB team in the same city. Detroit has 3 casinos, Michigan as a state has 39.

https://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/36253087/wr-jameson-williams-four-lions-suspended-betting

I don't know, looks like the Lions may need some help.

The Lions need more help than anyone can give them.

The Lions would still find a way to still not win a playoff game even with divine intervention.

I can honestly remember the last time they won a playoff game. I also remember Ray Lane doing a special on Tiger Stadium on it's last day and he was talking about Lions games being played there, I can remember him mocking Van Patrick with the call and right after that he says, have we heard from the Lions since? That was in 1999 lol.

[Buck87]

after being tied with the Boston-Milwaukee-Atlanta Braves in that category for well over 50 years.

They were also tied with the Orioles franchise for most cities 
Milwaukee Brewers (1901) --> St. Louis Browns (1902-1953) --> Baltimore Orioles (1954-present) 

[RoadWarrior56]

Another example of a AAA team being located in the same market as the parent MLB team is Atlanta.  The Braves AAA team from Richmond moved to nearby Gwinnett County GA around 2009, and play in a new stadium built for them.  The two stadiums are only located about 30-35 miles apart.  The arrangement seems to have worked well, as each team serves different markets.  And from what I understand the MLB team likes to have the AAA team located close by for cost and logistical reasons.  I think Baltimore did this first, even before Atlanta.

[Max Rockatansky]

I guess the Tigers will have to move out of Detroit if you can't have casinos and a MLB team in the same city. Detroit has 3 casinos, Michigan as a state has 39.

https://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/36253087/wr-jameson-williams-four-lions-suspended-betting

I don't know, looks like the Lions may need some help.

The Lions need more help than anyone can give them.

The Lions would still find a way to still not win a playoff game even with divine intervention.

I can honestly remember the last time they won a playoff game. I also remember Ray Lane doing a special on Tiger Stadium on it's last day and he was talking about Lions games being played there, I can remember him mocking Van Patrick with the call and right after that he says, have we heard from the Lions since? That was in 1999 lol.

The 1991 season when they beat the Cowboys 38-6 in a Divisional game.

[Flint1979]

I guess the Tigers will have to move out of Detroit if you can't have casinos and a MLB team in the same city. Detroit has 3 casinos, Michigan as a state has 39.

https://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/36253087/wr-jameson-williams-four-lions-suspended-betting

I don't know, looks like the Lions may need some help.

The Lions need more help than anyone can give them.

The Lions would still find a way to still not win a playoff game even with divine intervention.

I can honestly remember the last time they won a playoff game. I also remember Ray Lane doing a special on Tiger Stadium on it's last day and he was talking about Lions games being played there, I can remember him mocking Van Patrick with the call and right after that he says, have we heard from the Lions since? That was in 1999 lol.

The 1991 season when they beat the Cowboys 38-6 in a Divisional game.

I remember that game. Then they went and got murdered by Washington 41-10 who went on to win the Super Bowl that year. The Lions had Erik Kramer at QB lol. I remember Kramer on the Bears too.

[Flint1979]

Another example of a AAA team being located in the same market as the parent MLB team is Atlanta.  The Braves AAA team from Richmond moved to nearby Gwinnett County GA around 2009, and play in a new stadium built for them.  The two stadiums are only located about 30-35 miles apart.  The arrangement seems to have worked well, as each team serves different markets.  And from what I understand the MLB team liles to have the AAA team located close by for cost and logistical reasons.  I think Baltimore did this first, even before Atlanta.

Detroit's really isn't far, it's 61 miles from Comerica Park to Fifth Third Field in Toledo. There are a lot of Tigers fans in NW Ohio too.

[Takumi]

Another example of a AAA team being located in the same market as the parent MLB team is Atlanta.  The Braves AAA team from Richmond moved to nearby Gwinnett County GA around 2009, and play in a new stadium built for them.  The two stadiums are only located about 30-35 miles apart.  The arrangement seems to have worked well, as each team serves different markets.  And from what I understand the MLB team liles to have the AAA team located close by for cost and logistical reasons.  I think Baltimore did this first, even before Atlanta.

The Orioles’ AAA team is in Norfolk, which has been the case since 2007. It’s actually the furthest affiliate from Baltimore other than the rookie leagues (which are held at team complexes in Florida/Arizona and the Dominican for all teams), with the other minor league teams all in Maryland. The Braves’ minor league affiliates are all also pretty close, stretching from South Carolina to Mississippi. However, the Gwinnett move was partially because they couldn’t reach a deal with Richmond to replacing the aging Diamond. The AA Flying Squirrels (Giants) that replaced the Braves in Richmond are also starting to talk about moving for the same reason.

The Nationals’ affiliates are also fairly close, with the A-ball team in Fredericksburg the closest.

[Bruce]

The Mariners have their AAA and High A affiliates at opposite ends of the Seattle metro area. Works out well, though the latter needs a new stadium due to MiLB standards and they've resorted to stealing money from the fund for youth fields.

[on_wisconsin]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MdukKx18V8Q

[Henry]

Looks like Oakland is going to be the next Montreal...a one-time major-league city with a very long wait.

(Then again, and rather ironically, Washington had to go 33 years without a team of its own!)

[Ted$8roadFan]

Looks like Oakland is going to be the next Montreal...a one-time major-league city with a very long wait.

(Then again, and rather ironically, Washington had to go 33 years without a team of its own!)

I think it's worse for Oakland. Montreal has the Canadiens, and Washington has the Capitals, Wizards and the Commanders in addition to the Nationals (former Expos). It's hard to think of Oakland getting another major league team (maybe WNBA or soccer)?

[ZLoth]

Looks like Oakland is going to be the next Montreal...a one-time major-league city with a very long wait.

Oink-flap! Oink-flap!

Pigs will be flying before another professional sports team will relocate to the SF bay area. The Giants have their ballpack, the 49ers relocated to Santa Clara in the south, the Warriors are in San Francisco now at the Chase Center, and the Sharks are in San Jose. In addition, the revenue from the Regional Sports Networks for a MLB team is going to be dropping like a rock in the next few years. I don't see how a new major sports franchise is going to locate in California in the future.... or even in the San Francisco area.

[SP Cook]

Correct.  There is no chance that any major sports team (and neither soccer nor WNBA is a major sport) would ever relocate to Oakland, or any place in California, under the present financial situation. 

The SF Bay region is a one team per league market, which is what it always should have been.  Charlie Findley, who moved the A's from Kansas City, was lured by a sweetheart lease on the, now-rotting, Coliseum, even though the money to build what became Kaufmann Stadium was already approved.  Despite the then new and much larger stadium, attendance was only marginally better.  Findley was quoted as saying something like "I came out for Opening Day and the place was full, and then the next day there were 5000 people there, and I knew I had made a mistake."   

[thspfc]

(and neither soccer nor WNBA is a major sport)

I agree that neither are major, but throwing the WNBA in there is outright disrespectful to MLS. MLS makes 28 times the revenue of the WNBA (while hockey makes 3x the revenue of MLS, NBA and MLB make 2x the revenue of hockey, and NFL makes 2x the revenue of NBA and MLB).

[Max Rockatansky]

The MLS vexes me, to me I view it as akin to AA or AAA baseball.  Yeah sure, it's a professional league but it isn't exactly the top tier of the sport either.  Whereas the WNBA can claim to be the premier women's professional basketball league.  If either league had a Detroit based team I probably would be interested in following along (I did with the Shock). 

[kphoger]

Because when people think about Oklahoma City, the first thing that comes to mind is "casino gambling".

No, the first thing that people think of is tornadoes, our batshit Legislature, and racism. (Or at least that's all that comes up when I search "Oklahoma" on a national news site.)

I've lived about two hours from Oklahoma for the last 15 years, and I didn't even know till now that there were casinos in Oklahoma City.  All sorts of other places in the state, yes, but not Oklahoma City.

For what it's worth, I don't think of batshit Legislature or racism either, when I think of Oklahoma City.  I do think of tornadoes, though.

(Honestly, I hardly know anything about my own state's Legislature, let alone a different state's Legislature.  I highly doubt a whole lot of people follow out-of-state legislation closely enough to associate those states' capitals with politics, unless said politics have been routinely making national headlines.)

[kphoger]

Pro sports playing in Las Vegas is a symbolic surrendering of the integrity these pro sports leagues are ostensibly supposed to have.  Or at least pretend to have.  Now with MLB coming to Vegas, all pretense is gone.

Pro sports was about integrity?  I thought it was about entertainment and making money this whole time. 

I thought people already bet on sports...

[Alps]

(and neither soccer nor WNBA is a major sport)

I agree that neither are major, but throwing the WNBA in there is outright disrespectful to MLS. MLS makes 28 times the revenue of the WNBA (while hockey makes 3x the revenue of MLS, NBA and MLB make 2x the revenue of hockey, and NFL makes 2x the revenue of NBA and MLB).

you just disrespected women's sports.

[Max Rockatansky]

Pro sports playing in Las Vegas is a symbolic surrendering of the integrity these pro sports leagues are ostensibly supposed to have.  Or at least pretend to have.  Now with MLB coming to Vegas, all pretense is gone.

Pro sports was about integrity?  I thought it was about entertainment and making money this whole time. 

I thought people already bet on sports...

And to that end I don't see why it's a big deal or why it would obstruct Las Vegas from having professional teams.  There is a lot more to Las Vegas nowadays besides gambling and sports books.

[akotchi]

Are two AAA teams allowed in the same city?   

(Coming from a long-suffering A's fan.)

[Bruce]

Oakland would not be a viable MLS market, since San Jose is already supposed to "cover" the Bay Area and the league is not keen on adding another team to the same market unless it's of the same prestige as NYC or LA. The Oakland Roots play in the second-division USL Championship and seem to be doing fine, and also recently proposed a new stadium complex near the Coliseum lot.

The MLS vexes me, to me I view it as akin to AA or AAA baseball.  Yeah sure, it's a professional league but it isn't exactly the top tier of the sport either.  Whereas the WNBA can claim to be the premier women's professional basketball league.  If either league had a Detroit based team I probably would be interested in following along (I did with the Shock). 

With soccer, it's difficult to rank the leagues due to how few meaningful, non-exhibition matches are played between teams. Going by continental results, MLS has historically been behind Liga MX (Mexico's top tier) but has improved enough to be close; this summer's Leagues Cup that includes all teams from both leagues will be a good barometer of progress. The first MLS representative in the Club World Cup (my dear Seattle Sounders) were knocked out on an unlucky fluke goal against Egypt's champion, but that doesn't mean that MLS is worse than the Egyptian league as a whole.

Detroit does have a second-division USLC team that had previously been very adamantly anti-MLS, which meant not cooperating with a few proposed bids. If they can finally get over themselves, they could have a shot in the next round of expansion (competitors include San Diego, Las Vegas, Sacramento [again], and Phoenix).

[Duke87]

I share the skepticism with Las Vegas being a viable MLB market, but the new site proposed in Oakland sucks because it lacks good transit access and BART refuses to add an infill station to fix that.

Whatever happens, it will be a shame to see the Oakland Mausoleum go. It's the most amazing stadium in MLB and whatever replaces it will be boring cookie cutter bullshit. Definitely recommend going to see a game there while you still can if you haven't already.

[Max Rockatansky]

I usually catch a couple games at the Colosseum every year because of the relatively low cost and BART access.  Shame the As are going away, I'm not likely to return to San Francisco any time soon for a game.  My wife and I were talking about trying Anaheim as our new go to for MLB games in California. 

But yeah, count me as some who also enjoyed the Brutalist nature of the Colosseum.  At least it was authentic Brutalism and not some replica of Camden Yards. 

[Henry]

The SF Bay region is a one team per league market, which is what it always should have been.  Charlie Findley, who moved the A's from Kansas City, was lured by a sweetheart lease on the, now-rotting, Coliseum, even though the money to build what became Kaufmann Stadium was already approved.  Despite the then new and much larger stadium, attendance was only marginally better.  Findley was quoted as saying something like "I came out for Opening Day and the place was full, and then the next day there were 5000 people there, and I knew I had made a mistake."   

By that logic, maybe Chicago needs to be a one-team town as well, because it has only one team in each of the other sports leagues (Bears, Bulls, Blackhawks, Fire, etc.), and yet it still has the Cubs and White Sox. And let's not forget that the White Sox were rumored to move to the Tampa Bay Area, along with the Giants, until the promise of new ballparks kept them in their respective cities. When the Devil Rays arrived in 1998, their home stadium was already feeling antiquated because it was built way too early (opened in 1990 as the Thunderdome).

Back to the subject at hand: Raiders owner Mark Davis is not too thrilled about the thought of the A's following his team to Las Vegas. He's still bitter about how the A's screwed the Raiders out of a potential stadium deal, as outlined in the following quote:

"I won't forget what they did to us in Oakland,"  Davis told Katsilometes on Thursday. "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.'"

That move, in Davis's mind, killed the Raiders' chances of remaining in Oakland.

"They marketed the team as "˜Rooted in Oakland,' that's been their mantra through the whole thing,"  Davis said. "The slogans they've been using have been a slap to the face of the Raiders, and they were trying to win over that type of mentality in the Bay Area. Well all they did was fuck the Bay Area."