Oakland, CA — After a failed attempt to find a new stadium, the Oakland Athletics are looking to extend their lease of the Oakland Coliseum. And the city of Oakland is demanding big things from the A’s — such as a new Major League Baseball team.
The Oakland A’s new stadium is still being built in Las Vegas and expected to be complete in 2028. This is to the dismay of 18-year old A’s fan and Hayward resident, Daniel Lopez.
“In business sense, it makes sense — moving and relocating somewhere when the venue that you're at isn't really up to date and to standard,” Lopez said. “But I also sit there as a fan and think, why? It feels like they're just abandoning us, leaving us with just the Coliseum and nothing to hold on to.”
With the team’s current lease of the Oakland Coliseum set to expire at the end of the 2024 season, the A’s will still need a place to play in. In addition to the Coliseum, they are also considering other options such as a minor league stadium in Las Vegas or sharing Oracle Park with the San Francisco Giants.
There is a general consensus among East Bay locals that the Coliseum is poorly maintained. When I spoke with Ricardo Barraza, 16-year-old Hayward resident and loyal Giants fan, he said, “I’ve seen rat's like all around. I've heard stories of possums and different creatures just crawling around there.”
According to the San Francisco Chronicle, Oakland is demanding the following:
- A rent hike from this coming season’s $1.2 million.
- The A’s agreeing to leave their team name and colors in Oakland when they move away.
- A guarantee from MLB that Oakland would receive a new baseball team. This would be the first new MLB team since the Arizona Diamondbacks in 1998 (now the Tampa Bay Rays).
No deals have been made as of yet, so we will have to wait and see what lies in store for Oakland, the A’s and Las Vegas.
A new MLB team would have pretty big shoes to fill. From Barraza's perspective based on growing up playing baseball, the A’s used to help fund equipment for local East Bay youth teams and hold events and fundraisers for the community. Although some say that if the A’s extend their lease of the Coliseum, it could block opportunities for other Oakland sports teams in the community to use the stadium.
The most significant demand is a new expansion team which would be new to the Bay, but not new to the MLB. While Lopez claimed that it will take some getting used to, he’s not worried, “If you're ripping it out, at least give us something to start new with.”
Eli Borowsky (he/him) is a young journalist and a student at Leadership Public Schools, Hayward.
Edited by Amber Ly and shaylyn martos