Sorry folks, this week’s column isn’t a review of the 2011 Brad Pitt movie starring Brad Pitt; this is about a failing business and how it is gearing up to start a fight in court in a legal “Battle of the Bay.”
It’s about the Oakland Athletics and their plea to move to San Jose and how their counterparts across the water, the San Francisco Giants, are trying to block that move because of territorial TV rights.
In 1968, the Athletics moved into Oakland from Kansas City. Since the beginning, the stadium has never had a chance to live up to its fullest potential.
According to the 2010 U.S. Census, they are placed in the fifth largest metro area in the U.S., and also the sixth television market. However, the A’s aren’t allowed to participate because the Giants “own” the biggest markets in terms of TV rights. That could change very, very soon. The TV ratings have decreased 53 percent since 2008, posting a whopping .82 rating at the end of the 2009 season.
Looking ahead at the 2012 season, it is sad to see a franchise that fathered baseball players such as Jose Canseco and Rollie Fingers, and manager Tony LaRussa could end up, again, at the bottom. What do you expect on a team payroll at $65 million per year and suffered an attendance collapse to 1.4 million for the entire season?
The “welcome to” sign was bare when I arrived at my first A’s game. The answer, naturally, was to move to another location in San Jose for proposed Cisco Field. The Giants ownership was infuriated because MLB gave them territorial TV rights for their AA San Jose Giants as well as land owned needed for the move valued at $20 million.
Oakland Mayor Jean Quan sent a letter to Commissioner Bud Selig to let him know the city wants to keep the A’s.
“We wanted to tell you that we’re sending a letter to Commissioner Selig to make it clear that Oakland wants the A’s, that we have two viable sites for the A’s that can be delivered by 2014,” Quan said. “We want them to stay.”
Owner Lew Wolff, a successful Los Angeles real estate developer, reiterated that he has exhausted all efforts to keep the team in Oakland.
“We’re following the process. It’s excruciating,” Wolff said. “We talk constantly on many matters. I think we’re getting there. We have ways where we can be a belligerent owner. It’s not in me at this point.”
I blame the greed of capitalism and the San Francisco Giants. They have every right to snuff out the Athletics in terms of market value and TV revenue. It’s the American way, right? They pull almost three million fans per game and boast a 3.27 rating right?
Their value is up three percent and the A’s are down 10 percent. Over the last couple of seasons the A’s wanted a move to a better market. It was obvious. The stadium is falling apart, the team is sold for prospects and the fans are caught in the middle of a team that lacks the attraction of star power.
Face it Giants fans, MLB has the power to hand you a check, and give the A’s a new home. They have more invested in that team than you do in your “TV market” problems. Deal with it.
