Oakland Athletics Says Goodbye to Oakland After Almost 6 Decades

A view of empty seats for a game between the Oakland Athletics and Washington Nationals at the Oakland Coliseum in Oakland, Calif., on April 13, 2024. D. Ross Cameron/USA TODAY via Field Level Media

The Athletics said goodbye to Oakland, California, after 57 years amid much fanfare and grief.

The storied franchise now has to wait a few years for its permanent home.

The team is building a new $1.5 billion, 33,000-seat stadium in Las Vegas that is expected to be completed for the 2028 season. In the meantime, the A’s are expected to play the next three seasons at Sutter Health Park, a 14,014-seat stadium in Sacramento that has been used for minor-league baseball.

The A’s beat the Texas Rangers 3–2 in their final game at the Oakland Coliseum on Thursday in front of an announced crowd of 46,889. Several former players were in attendance to say farewell, including Hall-of-Fame outfielder Ricky Henderson and Oakland native Dave Stewart, who both threw out the first pitch.

Athletics owner John Fisher has been widely criticized for the move, and fans chanted “sell the team” at the final game. Fisher claimed he had no choice but to move the franchise after failing to get financing for a new stadium in Oakland. He penned an open letter to the team’s fans explaining the decision.

“The A’s are part of the fabric of Oakland, the East Bay, and the entire Bay Area,” Fisher said in the letter on Sept. 23. “When Lew Wolff and I bought the team in 2005, our dream was to win world championships and build a new ballpark in Oakland. Over the next 18 years, we did our very best to make that happen. We proposed and pursued five different locations in the Bay Area. And despite mutual and ongoing efforts to get a deal done for the Howard Terminal project, we came up short.”

Oakland has been hit hard by departures of its professional sports teams.

The NHL’s California Golden Seals left in 1976 to become the Cleveland Barons and later the Dallas Stars. The NBA’s Golden State Warriors left in 2019 for a new home in San Francisco. The Raiders departed in 2020 and will be neighbors to A’s in Nevada.

Those departures made the A’s defection even more poignant for the fans because it was the city’s last major professional sports franchise. Fisher said he felt the fans’ pain and apologized for his decision.

“There are millions of dedicated and passionate A’s fans, in Oakland and around the world. Countless dedicated staff members and Oakland Coliseum employees have poured their hearts into this team, and their efforts have meant so much to our community,” Fisher said in the letter. “I know there is great disappointment, even bitterness. 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.”

The question now is whether Major League Baseball can thrive in Las Vegas. The Raiders routinely sell out their games, and Las Vegas hosted Super Bowl LVIII at Allegiant Stadium.

The A’s had much success in Oakland, winning four World Series championships for the city. Fisher hopes the fans will continue to support the team in Las Vegas, but it’s a hard sell.

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