A’s owner John Fisher pens letter to Oakland fans ahed of Las Vegas move

On the eve of the Oakland Athletics’ final home series beginning at the Coliseum, team owner John Fisher penned a letter to Bay Area fans apologizing for the team’s planned exit.

Thursday’s sold-out, final game of a three-game home series against the Texas Rangers, will mark the end of a 57-year era of the A’s playing at the Coliseum.

“I know there is great disappointment, even bitterness,” Fisher said in his letter, which was released Monday. “Though I wish I could speak to each one of you individually, I can tell you this from the heart: we tried. Staying in Oakland was our goal, it was our mission, and we failed to achieve it. And for that I am genuinely sorry.”

A’s fans in Oakland have aired their displeasure with the team’s plans to relocate since last season, where fans seldom showed up to games, with the A’s bearing the lowest attendance rate in the MLB. The fans that have shown up over the past two seasons have routinely urged Fisher to sell the team and have taken jabs at other A’s executives.

One notably disgruntled A’s fan, Green Day frontman Billy Joe Armstrong, used the band’s weekend show in San Francisco to vent about the planned relocation, Fisher and his disdain for Las Vegas.

In his letter, Fisher highlighted that in 2021, only after trying unsuccessfully for 16 years to get a new ballpark built in the Bay Area, is when Las Vegas came into the picture.

Vegas process quickly progresses

Shortly after the team announced parallel paths with Oakland and Las Vegas, the Oakland City Council in July 2021 approved a term sheet for a ballpark plan at Howard Terminal, but it was one that was not to the A’s liking. The two sides never came to terms on the binding agreement, as things progressed in Las Vegas.

“We proposed and pursued five different locations in the Bay Area,” Fisher said. “And despite mutual and ongoing efforts to get a deal done for the Howard Terminal project, we came up short.”

Casey Pratt, spokesman for Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao, said he agrees that Fisher did put in an effort to get a new stadium project done in the Bay Area, but he wasn’t so sure that there ever was full commitment to the matter.

“While I will agree that he did try, as he states in the letter, I don’t think he tried beyond the bare minimum when it came to creating a world championship roster,” Pratt told the Review-Journal on Monday night.

“There was never an investment from a monetary standpoint in big name free agents to get them over the hump. When it came to the stadium efforts out here, as they sat back and watch their team valuation rise by $1 billion, they really only looked everywhere else for funding. While he did try, I don’t think he was willing to invest the money necessary to get it done, both on the field and in building a stadium.”

With Major League Baseball brass requiring the A’s to enter into a binding agreement for a new ballpark by 2024, or face the loss of revenue sharing, things moved forward fairly quickly in Las Vegas. Senate Bill 1 was signed into law in June 2023, earmarking up to $380 million in public funding for a planned $1.5 billion, 33,000-fan capacity stadium. Plans call for the ballpark to be constructed on 9 acres of the 35-acre Tropicana site.

The A’s have been around for 123 years, previously playing in Philadelphia and Kansas City, before landing in Oakland. Fisher called the team’s time in the Bay Area the best era in the team’s history, noting the team’s accomplishments on the field that include four World Series championships, six pennants and 17 division titles. In addition to producing seven Baseball Hall of Famers.

“Charlie Finley and his mule,” Fisher wrote. “Billy Ball. Reggie and his incomparable swagger. Rollie and his handlebar mustache. Dave Stewart and the stare. Bill King’s ‘Holy Toledo.’ Rickey, the greatest leadoff hitter in baseball history. The list goes on and on. Triumphs, near misses, the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake in Game 3 of the Bay Bridge Series, the 20-game win streak, a Hollywood movie, and an unmatched cast of players, coaches, and fans. We’ve had it all.”

What’s next in Vegas?

In Las Vegas, crews have been demolishing the Tropicana since the spring, with skeletons of the two hotel towers set to be imploded on Oct. 9. The occasion will be marked by a fireworks and drone show, with the A’s taking part in the event, along with Tropicana owner Bally’s Corp.

After the land is cleared following the implosion, the A’s plan to begin construction in the second quarter of 2025 and to begin playing baseball on the Strip in 2028.

Before construction of the A’s new Southern Nevada home can begin the team must first finalize stadium agreements with the Las Vegas Stadium Authority and Clark County and detail this financing plan to each entity.

A’s President Dave Kaval told the Review-Journal this month that the three outstanding agreements with the stadium authority would be presented during a planned Oct. 17 board meeting.

“Everything is going to be presented there, but the votes are not going to occur until the December meeting,” Kaval said. “We’re on track for those and we’re really happy with the progress we’ve made and ensuring that it’s done in an appropriate fashion and working hand-in-hand with the stadium authority.”

Steve Hill, stadium authority chairman, said last month that it’s also possible that the A’s will update the board on their stadium financing plan at the October meeting.

Interim years

While the ballpark is being built in Las Vegas the A’s will play the 2025-2027 MLB season at Sutter Health Park, a Triple-A ballpark in Sacramento. Plans call for various upgrades to occur at the stadium, before the A’s begin play there in the spring.

But as the A’s journey from the Bay Area eventually ends up in Las Vegas, Fisher hopes the team’s Oakland fan base is along for the ride.

“Looking ahead, I hope you will join our beloved A’s as we move forward on this amazing journey,” Fisher said. “I hope I will see you again sporting the Green and Gold. And I hope we will make you proud.”

Contact Mick Akers at makers@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2920. Follow @mickakers on X.