Just a few years ago Oakland was a pinnacle of the sports world. Now they have had their last major sports team leave the city. It all began when the Warriors went across the bay in 2019 which some attribute to the team being known for its glitz and not their grit which is what is at the heart of Oakland. Then soon after the Raiders moved to Las Vegas – which is also where the A’s will be heading. A major motivation for the move to Las Vegas is sports betting. Teams can earn income from sports betting and Nevada’s laws are very loose on the matter in contrast to the laws in California.
For the Athletics there are other factors like fan attendance, the stability and cleanliness of the stadium. Fans blame all of this change to the owner John Fisher – accusing him of being incredibly cheap and calling him the worst owner in all of sports. Many doubt if the Oakland Athletics will ever have a serious chance at being a contender without new ownership. Despite being the 8th richest MLB owner, Fisher repeatedly refuses to pour those proceeds back into the team.
The fans wanted to show that it was not their fault by employing a “reverse boycott” game to support the players. Nearly 30,000 fans showed up to this regular season match up in the middle of the season where the A’s actually came out victorious. There were chants by the fans consisting of ” Stay in Oakland” and “Sell the team” and a very very popular shirt during the game was a Green shirt with Yellow letters that simply said “SELL” making their displeasure with ownership clear to Fisher.
The once glorious sports city of Oakland known for its gritty, blue-collar hard champions will be sports-less very soon.
