Sports analysts and fans alike deflated by A's departure
The news many Oakland sports fans have been dreading became official Thursday - this will be the last season that the A's play at the Oakland Coliseum.
A's owner John Fisher announced Thursday that the team will play the next three seasons in Sacramento. In 2028, they are expected to move to Las Vegas.
Since the team moved to the Oakland Coliseum in 1968, close to 80 million people have attended A's games at the facility.
Sports consultant and executive, Andy Dolich, says it's a big loss for the Oakland community.
"This is a Louisville slugger upside the head," Dolich said about the news. "It's a gut punch."
The A's will finish the 2024 season in Oakland. In 2025, they will play in Sacramento and share Sutter Health Park with San Francisco Giants' AAA team.
"'We don't care about you, we care about your money'," is how Dolich interpreted the announcement.
Dolich says Fisher is just focused on making as much money off of the team as possible.
"It has a market value today of 1.2 billion," Dolich said. "Sports economists who are way smarter than me say once they're in a new stadium in Las Vegas, it will be worth 2.4 billion dollars. That's what John Fisher cares about."
Oakland City Councilman Noel Gallo stopped by the stadium after the news broke.
"I've been an As fan all my life," Gallo said.
He says the relationship between the A's and the City of Oakland has been tumultuous for years.
"This has been an ongoing issue politically and business-related, and I still remember when they were ready to go to Fremont," Gallo said. "They had the land there, that didn't work out, then they had bought the land in San Jose."
After more than 56 years, the coliseum will no longer have it's main tenant. Leaders are trying to figure out what's next.
"We do have the African American Sports Entertainment Committee group that we hired to deal with the half of property, and Robert Bobb was a previous City Manager ... he helped build the Coliseum," Gallo said, regarding the future of the facility.
"He's already in contact with the National Football League and Major League Baseball. Hopefully we can attract another professional team to come to Oakland."
The Oakland Roots and Soul soccer teams will be playing at the Colesium next season, but Dolich says he doesn't see any other major league sports team playing their anytime soon.
"Will we have cricket matches at the coliseum? I don't know, but it might be crickets before we have a cricket match," Dolich said.
The Oakland Coliseum is one of the oldest Major League Baseball Stadiums. Gallo says the city is committed to improving the facility for any future tenants.
