Alameda County Board of Supervisors To Take Key Vote On Oakland A's Waterfront Ballpark
OAKLAND (CBS SF/BCN) -- The East Bay future of Major League Baseball's Oakland A's hangs in the balance Tuesday as the Alameda County Board of Supervisors were preparing to take a key vote on the proposed waterfront ballpark at the Howard Terminal.
MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred confirmed relocation was on the table for the Athletics at a news conference earlier this month as the team was considering potential ball park sites in Las Vegas, which has already lured away the Raiders.
"Both Oakland and Tampa need new facilities," Manfred said in an interview with Sports Business Journal. "It's kind of beyond debate at this point. Oakland is probably critical, just in terms of the condition of the ballpark. Whatever you want to say about Tampa, it's playable for right now and they have a least that goes through 2027."
"Oakland's in a critical situation. We need to find a way to get new ballparks built in those two cities or -- particularly in the case of Oakland -- we've had to open up the opportunity to explore other locations just because it's dragged on so long."
Major League Baseball will likely see any action or inaction by supervisors as evidence of the region's willingness to accommodate the A's, who are seeking to move from their current Coliseum site in East Oakland and have said they are willing to move out of the city if the Howard Terminal proposal doesn't go through.
On the board agenda for noon is a non-binding resolution on whether the county will contribute potential future tax revenue to help the A's pay for parks, affordable housing, and other onsite infrastructure.
"It is apparent we could lose this last professional franchise to another city," Supervisors David Haubert and Richard Valle wrote in a letter to board President Keith Carson.
Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf said she was confident of a yes vote.
"I feel very confident there will be a vote Tuesday and that vote will be yes," she said. "And I commend the county for the due diligence that they have performed over the last several weeks to really dig into the numbers and the economic benefits for them and their mission."
But she is concerned. Anything but a yes vote she thinks will confirm to Manfred that there is not a path forward for the A's in Oakland.
Schaaf does not see a path to a deal for a new A's ballpark in Oakland unless the county participates -- "This vote has been the largest unknown in the entire project."
But the resolution will not be without opposition. Several local community groups who are opposed to the construction will be at the meeting to voice their complaints.