Oakland wants business

by Oaktown123 on Sep 5, 2009 3:59 PM PDT

The Oakland chamber has shown incompetence once again. Read this:

It is my understanding that Major League Baseball (MLB) has appointed a three-person committee to evaluate the options for the development of a new, world-class ballpark for the Oakland Athletics. As part of the MLB analysis, I understand that the appointed, three-member MLB committee will review the level of support in the business community for the Oakland A's, including specific interest in luxury suites, season tickets, and other forms of corporate support.

As a member of the business community that operates within the A's territory, I am pleased to inform MLB that should the A's succeed in moving forward on a new, state-of-the-art, transit-friendly ballpark within its currently defined MLB territory, [INSERT BUSINESS NAME HERE] would be interested in supporting the A's, including pursuing the rights to a luxury suite and/or a package of season tickets subject to a more formal evaluation based on ticket price and availability.

Over at V-Smoothes "A better Oakland, he said Oakland only partisans are going to out some crazy spin on this. I have a feeling that this means Oakland is desperate. In simple words, MLB says that the city the A's currently play in doesn't have enough corporate support and Oakland is looking for it. This will surely impact MLB's decision on where the A's play. So, do the businesses say yes? Probably not, because they haven't for the past forty years. Now this, couple with San Jose's find, should persuade MLB to build in San Jose. However, I don't think they will. For the past few years, it seems like MLB is viewing S.J. as a suburb of San Francisco, not a city of 1,000,000 people and great corporate support. The fate of baseball in San Jose has not been determined yet, however. I believe MLb will determine what San Jose is first, suburb or Corporate city of 1,000,000. If the former happens, the A's will likely leave the Bay Area, or stay in Oakland. If the ladder happens, the t-rights will come to a vote, and the fate of SJ baseball will be decided.

Poll

What do you think of Oakland Chamber due to this move.

It's working

6 votes

They're fucked

67 votes

73 votes | Poll has closed

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Comments

The poll options aren't mutually exclusive.

Founding member of the Eric Patterson fan club.

by travdog6 on Sep 5, 2009 4:09 PM PDT reply actions

hahahah

I was thinking the same thing…….can we chose both?

by Colorado Booze Hounds on Sep 5, 2009 4:50 PM PDT up reply actions

I don't think the MLB sees San Jose as a suburb of SF, or even if it's relevant.

They know the kind of dollars there and that’s what matters.

by LoneStranger on Sep 5, 2009 10:34 PM PDT reply actions

A's v Giants "is kind of like the difference between going to see the Ramones and going to see the Bee Gees. A's fans will go see the Ramones."
-BB 07/27/05

by xbhaskarx on Sep 6, 2009 1:13 AM PDT reply actions

by LowcountryJoe on Sep 7, 2009 5:15 AM PDT up reply actions

should the A’s succeed in moving forward on a new, state-of-the-art, transit-friendly ballpark within its currently defined MLB territory, [INSERT BUSINESS NAME HERE] would be interested in supporting the A’s, including pursuing the rights to a luxury suite and/or a package of season tickets subject to a more formal evaluation based on ticket price and availability.

the a’s are currently in a transit-friendly ballpark within their currently defined MLB territory, and tickets are reasonably priced and available, so why not buy season tickets now?

A's v Giants "is kind of like the difference between going to see the Ramones and going to see the Bee Gees. A's fans will go see the Ramones."
-BB 07/27/05

by xbhaskarx on Sep 6, 2009 1:40 AM PDT reply actions

Have you seen the team this year?

by Nate on Sep 6, 2009 2:29 AM PDT up reply actions

Has anybody?

I like Cindi. A. She never pretends to know more than she does. B. She has unbridled enthusiasm for her "Hotties," and isn't afraid to show it. -IM4Oakgal

by Nico on Sep 6, 2009 5:41 PM PDT up reply actions

The attendance was mediocre, at best, when the team was playing well in years passed

by LowcountryJoe on Sep 7, 2009 5:10 AM PDT up reply actions

The attendance was just fine in the late '80s/early '90s

The team was very good, and it was being run like a community for the fans, not like a business in which customers are an inconvenience.

I like Cindi. A. She never pretends to know more than she does. B. She has unbridled enthusiasm for her "Hotties," and isn't afraid to show it. -IM4Oakgal

by Nico on Sep 7, 2009 8:47 AM PDT up reply actions

Yeah a community that was bleeding out

Got news for you, the Haas family was losing money on the A’s hand over fist while engendering the “community” you refer to. Baseball is a business, you can’t run a team like a charity for long.

by athletics68 on Sep 7, 2009 3:28 PM PDT up reply actions

I doubt the Haas family did too badly in the end

Though they lost money each season, they also sold the team for a lot more than they bought it for which. (Hey look, I didn’t end the sentence with a preposition!)

I like Cindi. A. She never pretends to know more than she does. B. She has unbridled enthusiasm for her "Hotties," and isn't afraid to show it. -IM4Oakgal

by Nico on Sep 7, 2009 8:56 PM PDT up reply actions

Today's team treats their customers like an incovenience?

Please explain that one to me.

Not only that but I ran the numbers…they were not pretty even when the team was playing very well.

by LowcountryJoe on Sep 7, 2009 7:18 PM PDT up reply actions

Ask BBG for a better explanation

She promised a fanpost on her experiences with the A’s vs. other teams and I can’t wait…

I like Cindi. A. She never pretends to know more than she does. B. She has unbridled enthusiasm for her "Hotties," and isn't afraid to show it. -IM4Oakgal

by Nico on Sep 7, 2009 8:57 PM PDT up reply actions

Why wait for BBG?

You wrote it! Tell me (or anyone else that wishes to know) in what way the Athletics treat their fans as an incovenience. I’m an NRAF now, though I was born and raised in Pleasant Hill and lived there until ‘69-’89; ‘99-’02 so I don’t see things any longer. Still, seems like an awfully bold and strange statement to suggest that a business treats its source of revenue as an inconvenience.

by LowcountryJoe on Sep 8, 2009 2:33 AM PDT up reply actions

BBG can explain with much more specific anecdotes

that compare how the A’s handle group sales and ticket requests compared to how 5-6 other teams handle them. But here’s one example I observed recently of some “shoot yourself in the foot” bad PR. The point is, stuff like this happens a lot, not just some random time.

I like Cindi. A. She never pretends to know more than she does. B. She has unbridled enthusiasm for her "Hotties," and isn't afraid to show it. -IM4Oakgal

by Nico on Sep 8, 2009 4:45 PM PDT up reply actions

From the Chamber's letter

In prior years, the Oakland A’s had strong attendance and business community support. From 1982 – 2004, average annual home attendance (excluding the strike year of 1994) was over 1.87 million.

American League average home attendance during the same period was 2.1 million.

That has stuck in my craw since I first read it… what they are saying here is, “The A’s have had very strong attendance when Lew Wolff wasn’t around. And as evidence we point to the fact that for this 20 year period, they were below average in attendance.”

Remembering Bill King

by jeffro on Sep 8, 2009 8:33 AM PDT up reply actions

Right, but...

1) They were doing so in an inferior facility; and
2) The point is likely to compare that number to how dramatically attendance has deteriorated under current ownership. The A’s will end up a hair over 1.4M this year. That’s a drop of nearly 25% over the last five years.

"PECOTA can pretty much kiss my ass."-Nico

by jeepers on Sep 8, 2009 11:34 AM PDT up reply actions

Understood, but the point is...

When you write this sort of thing, that should one day be held in the hands of some guy in a suit… you really don’t get to make qualifiers… the letter should speak for itself.

If they said ,“We have had below average attendance playing in an inferior facility.” That STILL would read pathetically. Maybe more so?

It’s sort of a mine field talking about attendance… “Before the Raiders came back we had a premiere venue and good attendance…” D’oh… that sounds like it is the City of Oakland’s fault.

“Before the current ownership…” D’oh don’t attack the owner cause that will just piss the league off.

I honestly don’t know how you approach this letter to make it sound better or how you go about explaining that below average attendance was really a good thing.

I feel sorry for whoever it is that actually was tasked with trying to do it.

Remembering Bill King

by jeffro on Sep 8, 2009 12:37 PM PDT up reply actions

i want to see the ladder

happen

Hi ho.

by danh on Sep 6, 2009 8:49 PM PDT reply actions

You rung?

I like Cindi. A. She never pretends to know more than she does. B. She has unbridled enthusiasm for her "Hotties," and isn't afraid to show it. -IM4Oakgal

by Nico on Sep 6, 2009 10:22 PM PDT up reply actions 1 recs

Let's all not Lurch for the door at the same time to see who [Cousin] It is.

by LowcountryJoe on Sep 7, 2009 8:11 AM PDT up reply actions

Josh

The problem is that they’re the second sister in a not THAT big corporate market. They’re not ever going to draw corporate dollars in Oakland because a) there aren’t many big corporations in Oakland and b) the big corporations in the surrounding areas want to associate themselves with San Francisco as a city.

I find myself in a weird spot as an A’s fan that I’m guessing many of us are in – loving the A’s, loving that they’re in Oakland, grew up with them in Oakland, but still being aware they’re never really going to compete in the long term as long as they’re in Oakland, and hence hoping they move to San Jose.

by jdr on Sep 8, 2009 9:35 AM PDT reply actions