The Raiders left for Los Angeles in 1982, returned to Oakland in 1995 and then uprooted for Las Vegas 2020.
The Golden State Warriors moved across the bay to San Francisco’s Chase Center starting in the 2019-20 season after playing in Oakland since 1971.
Oakland even briefly had an NHL team: the California Golden Seals, who arrived as an expansion franchise in 1967 and played nine seasons in Oakland before becoming the Cleveland Barons, who folded after two seasons.
Bip Roberts, an Oakland native and former MLB player who is now an East Bay real estate investor, said he doesn’t buy the argument that his hometown lacks the audience or the money to support a major league team.
“Everything is set up for you to succeed” in Oakland, Roberts said. “When you think about those of us who grew up here, those of us who live here, we can afford to go to any sporting event, no matter what the ticket price is, right? To leave a big market like this to go to a smaller market (Sacramento) and then to an even smaller market (Las Vegas), that’s not a good deal, in my opinion.”
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Oakland’s median household income, $96,828, and Alameda County’s median household income, $119,931, are both the highest in the state ($95,521) and the nation ($80,610), according to the most recent census data. However, they are lower than San Francisco’s median household income, $126,730, and those in neighboring Marin ($139,644) and San Mateo ($151,485) counties.
Las Vegas, however, has become something of a sports capital in recent years. The city, which will host the NHL’s A’s, Raiders and Golden Knights, hosted its first Super Bowl seven months ago, and last year it hosted the Stanley Cup Final and a Formula One Grand Prix.
Las Vegas is also being considered as a future destination for an expanding NBA franchise.
The A’s departure gives the San Francisco Giants complete control of the Bay Area market, leaving New York, Chicago, the Washington DC/Baltimore area and Greater Los Angeles as the only remaining markets with two MLB clubs.
By on-field statistics, the A’s have always been at least even with the Giants. Through Tuesday night, the Oakland A’s were 4,613-4,383 (.513), while the San Francisco Giants were 5,473-5,118 (.517).
The A’s have won six American League titles and four World Series, while the Giants have won six National League titles and three World Series. The A’s swept the Giants in the 1989 Fall Classic.
Yet it’s the Giants, who could well finish .500 or worse in their seventh season of eight, who remain in place. The fifth-most valuable team in baseball at an estimated $3.8 billion, the Giants play in one of the most beloved stadiums in MLB, which has helped the team surpass the A’s in attendance since Oracle Park opened in 2000.
A’s fans, disgusted by Fisher’s decision, have stayed away from the ballpark in droves this season. The franchise is dead last in MLB attendance, averaging just 10,635 fans per game.
Roberts blamed the A’s management for the situation. Even before Fisher and real estate developer Lewis Wolff bought the team in 2005, the franchise had a well-earned reputation for focusing on the bottom line at the expense of retaining long-term talent.
Some prime examples of missing stars include Reggie Jackson in the ’70s, Mark McGwire in the ’90s and Jason Giambi in the early 2000s. More recently, East Bay native Marcus Semien left as a free agent in 2021 and then won a World Series ring with the Texas Rangers last year.
“It’s something that’s been ingrained in the organization, to make sure these players have so much support in the city, and then they leave,” Roberts said. “And I think that’s worn people down.”
As the A’s final game approaches and fans share memories of the Oakland Coliseum on social media and elsewhere, the magnitude of the loss is setting in, he added.
“I’m starting to get sad about what’s about to happen,” Roberts said. “I’ve been pushing my emotions down for a long time.”
Dana Varinsky reported from Oakland and David K. Li from New York.
