Sept 23 (Askume) – Oakland Athletics owner John Fisher apologized to fans on Monday for the team’s move to Las Vegas, saying the move was prompted by a failure to reach an agreement to build a new stadium in the San Francisco Bay Area.
The Athletics, who have called Oakland home since 1968, will play their final home game at the Oakland Coliseum on Sept. 26 and their final game as the Athletics three days later in Seattle.
“I know there is a lot of disappointment and pain,” Fischer said in a letter to fans.
“Although I wish I could speak to each of you individually, I can tell you from the bottom of my heart: It was our goal to stay in Oakland, it was our mission, and we worked hard and failed to achieve that goal. I am truly sorry.
Fisher said he was unable to reach an agreement with city officials to build a new stadium in Oakland because the much-maligned stadium was considered the worst in Major League Baseball.
He said, “When Lew Wolff and I bought the team in 2005, our dream was to win a world championship and build a new stadium in Oakland.”
“Over the next 18 years, we did our best to make this happen. We proposed and worked on five different locations in the Bay Area. Through a joint and sustained effort, the Howard Pier project was finally completed. transaction.
The team received approval from Major League Baseball (MLB) owners late last year to move to Las Vegas, and its lease with the Oakland Coliseum is set to expire at the end of this year.
The Athletics will play the next three seasons at Sutter Health Park in Sacramento while their $1.5 billion stadium is under construction on the Las Vegas Strip.
The A’s future home will be a 33,000-seat baseball stadium overlooking the city skyline, with games expected to begin in 2028.
The Athletics played in Philadelphia from 1901-54, then moved to Kansas City for 13 seasons before moving to California in 1968.
In its 57 years in Oakland, the team won four World Series, six pennants, 17 division titles and produced seven Hall of Famers.
