After years of fits and starts on a new stadium in the East Bay, here are five cities the Oakland A’s should consider relocating to.
To be frank, the Oakland Coliseum (it’s called RingCentral Coliseum these days) is a dump. The Oakland A’s have called it home since 1968, through two runs of three consecutive trips to the World Series. The team has often been successful on the field despite the ballpark they call home, and the lack of revenue derived from it.
Over the last two years or so, the A’s have prioritized building a new waterfront stadium in the Howard Terminal area of downtown Oakland. But the possibility of a move has still lingered.
On Tuesday, via a statement passed along by ESPN’s Jeff Passan, the A’s announced they have MLB’s blessing to pursue relocation. The team apparently asked Oakland City Council to vote on the proposed Howard Terminal development weeks ago, before its July recess, apparently with no response or clarity.
The future success of the A’s depends on a new ballpark,” A’s owner John Fisher said in a statement. “Oakland is a great baseball town, and we will continue to pursue our waterfront ballpark project. We will also follow MLB’s direction to explore other markets.”
The idea of building on the current coliseum site has been out there, but MLB has dismissed that via its own statement.
The Oakland Coliseum site is not a viable option for the future vision of baseball. We have instructed the Athletics to begin to explore other markets while they continue to pursue a waterfront ballpark in Oakland. The Athletics need a new ballpark to remain competitive, so it is now in our best interest to also consider other markets.
So the A’s will take MLB’s direction and pursue a move. Whether that bears any fruit is an open question. Maybe, local government officials will now feel pressure to greenlight a new stadium to keep the team in Oakland. But let’s place the relocation game, and flesh out some cities the A’s could move to.
5 cities the Oakland A’s should consider relocating to
5. Portland, OR
Portland would instantly become one of the smallest markets in MLB, if not the smallest. But it did have a minor league almost steadily for decades ending in 2010, across several major league team affiliations. So there should still be a market for baseball that can be tapped into. If the fanbase for the NBA’s Trail Blazers is any indication, interest in another “major league” team would be heavy.
Based on geography, Portland makes sense as a location for the A’s to explore.