Oakland A's FanFest: Saturday, Jan. 28, 2017

Oakland A’s FanFest is coming!

Three interesting notes to point out:

1. New location: After more than a decade in the Coliseum and Oracle Arena, FanFest is moving to Jack London Square. That's neat simply to mix things up; the old song and dance was getting stale, and navigating the dense indoor crowds was barely worth it. It opens the possibility of rain, of course, but a little fresh air never hurt anyone.
2. New location, Part 2: What a neat coincidence though. Right as the A’s announce they’re getting more serious about a new stadium, especially about exploring different sites for that new stadium, and switch to a leadership corps that might prefer those alternate sites, FanFest switches away from the current stadium and toward the general area where many folks want the team to build. (This isn’t a criticism. This is a smart idea, if in fact it was part of the thought process.)
3. It’s free! If you’ve made it this far with the A’s and still want to spend a morning at a FanFest in January, then you have shown incredible patience through some tough times. It’s nice to see the team give something back to the fans after some unpopular trades and a couple last-place seasons. It’s so easy to slap a $5 price on tickets and make a quick buck. Or, you could make an effort to begin rebuilding goodwill with a collective fanbase that currently hates its team, probably as much as disgruntled fans of any other major American sports franchise right now. If you don’t know what I’m talking about, then check out the Facebook comments on our articles sometime.

Are you going to FanFest next month? Start planning your meetups in the comments!