After failing to come to an agreement at the Howard Terminal site in Oakland, the Athletics appear well on their way to having one foot out the door in the direction of Las Vegas.
But while the waterfront property at Howard Terminal seemed to be the A's preferred site for a new ballpark, it was not the only site that Oakland had to offer.
So why did the A's forego the Coliseum as a potential site for their brand-new ballpark?
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ESPN's Tim Keown reported, citing sources, it had everything to do with the A's aiding their efforts to relocate to the Nevada desert.
"There's a reason, sources say, that the A's immediately discounted the Coliseum as a potential site once they chose Las Vegas," Keown wrote in a piece published Tuesday. "The relocation application with Major League Baseball pertains to the city of Oakland, not just the team's current ballpark, so the A's have to convince three-quarters of the MLB owners that Oakland -- all of it, not just Howard Terminal or the Laney site or the Coliseum -- is not a viable location for the team despite being the 10th-biggest media market in the country. (Las Vegas is 40th.)"
A's owner John Fisher was adamant the Coliseum site did not offer the proper foundation for the ballpark concept he and the franchise had envisioned for their new home.
"To be able to attract the 2.4 million fans that we were hoping to attract here for our stadium, it had to be great," Fisher says. "It had to be at least as good, if not better, than Oracle field in San Francisco. And I also felt like, why should our fans settle for anything else? Our fans deserve a great ballpark, and that was always my North Star."
Oakland Athletics
When asked if he was aware that A's fans would be content with a less-than-perfect stadium under the condition the team stayed in Oakland, Fisher acknowledged the fans' sentiment while reaffirming his desire.
"Yeah, I can appreciate that," Fisher said. "But, you know, for us to be successful, which is being able to be competitive with some of the other really strong teams in baseball and with our sibling club across the Bay in San Francisco, we had to be able to have revenues and success comparable to those other clubs. A lesser ballpark would not solve the fundamental need for the A's to be in a great, successful ballpark and be able to drive our goals to win a World Series."
The A's current lease at the Coliseum runs through the end of the 2024 MLB season, with their future beyond that remaining uncertain.