A's to leave Oakland

[Flickered Flame]

I am torn on this announcement, I was really hoping they would be able to get a nice 35-40,000 seat stadium in Oakland but it looks as if they will be moving closer to San Jose, hopefully the people there can fill the new stadium.

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=2652436

[Cheese]

wow...well Im real glad I got the chance to watch the A's in Oakland. A great experience in a fun park. The sanitization of baseball continues.

[the_only_turek_fan]

Since it is so close to Oakland would they still call the team the Oakland Athletics or are they going to change the name as well?

[Dion]

Sad day for A's fans

[Sylvanfan]

Oakland has a stink about it these days brought on by senile Al Davis. Smart move for that team to get the hell away from that. Besides right now San Jose is a better and more lucrative market.

[Log]

A great move for the franchise. The San Jose residents will have alot more disposable income than in Oakland.

[Resolute 14]

Originally Posted by Dion

Sad day for A's fans

Why? Cause they need to drive an extra 15 miles to get to the game?

What I dont get is why they would build a ballpark so small. 36,000 seats would be the around the third or fourth smallest ballpark in the league.

[OILFAN #81]

Good news for my sister, she lives in San Jose and the A's are her favorite team.

[Sylvanfan]

Originally Posted by Snakeeye

Why? Cause they need to drive an extra 15 miles to get to the game?

What I dont get is why they would build a ballpark so small. 36,000 seats would be the around the third or fourth smallest ballpark in the league.

Well if it's a smaller park in a new market they can charge more for tickets and use supply/deman imbalance to keep prices high. Also most upper bleacher seats in Baseball stadiums don't exactly go for big dollars, most tickets in those extra seats would be under $20 per game. Having a smaller park with more club type seating, and suites is the way to go. Sort of like the Excel Energy Centre. Smaller building by todays standards, but a great revenue generator, and always sold out.

[Julio]

This isn't a really big suprise, it's beein in the works ever since the Raiders went back to Oakland, pretty much distroying the Coloseum as a ball park. I went to a game in August, and thought the fans were great and knowledgable, the atmosphere was good, but the park is antiquated (narrow concourses and not great facilities).
As for the park being so small Snake, they haven't been opening the upper deck for a long while, giving them an operational capacity of 31.5 K. I was there on a game when they had a sellout, and it was a gongshow, comparable lineups for everything from getting in to getting food and beer to a McMahon Labour Day (or last Sunday) crowd.

[Julio]

Sylvan, I don't know what you consider small for a newer NHL building, but at it's most crammed there are more people in Xcel than @ the Dome.

[droopydrew19]

Will they still be the Oakland A's?

[Sidney Crosby's Hat]

Golden State Athletics?

[JBR]

SF Bay A's
SJA's
Cow Palace Kids
Cap'n and the Electric Dinks


Just a few suggestions.

[Sylvanfan]

Originally Posted by Julio

Sylvan, I don't know what you consider small for a newer NHL building, but at it's most crammed there are more people in Xcel than @ the Dome.

Under 20,000. Listed Seating Capacity for Xcel Energy centre is just over 18,000 for hockey.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xcel_Energy_Center

[Sidney Crosby's Hat]

If you sold every seat and standing room at Xcel you can get about 19,500 in there but the official capacity for a "sell out" is 18,064.

[Sylvanfan]

Originally Posted by Sidney Crosby's Hat

If you sold every seat and standing room at Xcel you can get about 19,500 in there but the official capacity for a "sell out" is 18,064.

Still doesn't it have great concession access, lots of club seats and other nice perks that make it a revenue generating monster. They could have spent the same money and made it into a 22,000 seat behemouth to sell more tickets, but likely generate less revenue.

A ball park with an intimate setting, convenient washroom and concession access that people love going to will generate a lot of money.

[Sidney Crosby's Hat]

Originally Posted by Sylvanfan

Still doesn't it have great concession access, lots of club seats and other nice perks that make it a revenue generating monster. They could have spent the same money and made it into a 22,000 seat behemouth to sell more tickets, but likely generate less revenue.

A ball park with an intimate setting, convenient washroom and concession access that people love going to will generate a lot of money.

Oh yeah, for sure I agree 100%. I went on a baseball trip this summer and the only California stadium I didn't go to was Oakland. I'd definitely go out of my way to see a game in a ballpark like that.

[browna]

Yeah that Colisuem is a dump..and have never been in a town as shady as Oakland at night. Watched a game there almost 10 years ago, and after the family was appraoched across the street as we went out for a bite to eat. Not a comfortable feeling, and this was in the supposed ok section of town. Even the cheap, Best Western type hotels ahd 24hr security...again, in the "touristy(loose term)" part of town.

[Displaced Flames fan]

They were the Athletics long before they got to Oakland...I imagine they will stay the Atlhletics long after they leave.