The San Francisco Athletics? It’s apparently a possibility — at least on a part-time basis — in the future.
In an interview with the Nevada Independent, Oakland Athletics president Dave Kaval listed Oracle Park as one of three options for the A’s to play their regular-season home games in from 2025-27. The team’s lease on the Coliseum expires after the 2024 season, and the A’s ballpark on the Las Vegas Strip is projected to open no sooner than 2028.
That three-year window puts the A’s housing situation in limbo. Kaval said the A’s have narrowed their options to Oracle Park, the Coliseum and Summerlin, Nev. — home of the A’s Triple-A affiliate.
“I think those are the three most likely scenarios and how that plays out,” Kaval told the Nevada Independent, which posted the report Thursday and said the interview was conducted on Aug. 15. “That’s something (Major League Baseball) is running point on.”
The Giants wouldn’t comment on Kaval’s statement, but according to an industry source, the idea of the A’s playing a limited number of games in a season at Oracle Park — as many as 30-40 — has been floated around Third and King, with the Giants possibly amenable to hosting a portion of the A’s home schedule.
The Giants would not be interested in any more games than that in any single season because they use their facility for many revenue-generating events throughout the MLB season through Giants Enterprises, which books concerts, meetings, receptions and other activities during the season when the team is on the road, as well as during the offseason.
While Kaval said the Coliseum remains an option, the A’s would need to request an extension from Oakland and the County of Alameda, which jointly operate the Coliseum property. Oakland remains at odds with the A’s after they walked away from negotiations on their own Howard Terminal ballpark project to focus on Las Vegas.
One major benefit to the A’s staying local for those three years is that they would keep receiving significant revenue from their regional sports network contract, which would remain intact so long as they remain in the Bay Area media market, the sixth largest in the country. According to Sportico, the A’s pocketed $53 million last year as part of their 25-year deal with NBC Sports California that runs through 2033, though the Chronicle reported in April that the deal’s annual value had escalated to closer to $60 million.
A’s owner John Fisher, known for his frugality, would perhaps not readily walk away from $60 million per season. That’s underscored when realizing the added stakes as additional reasons why the A’s owner is so desperate to secure a “binding agreement” for his Las Vegas ballpark by Jan. 15. If the deal doesn’t happen by that date, according to MLB’s collective bargaining agreement, his revenue sharing money — dollars distributed from high-revenue teams to low-revenue teams — would go away.
By the terms of the CBA, the A’s are incrementally getting phased back in as revenue-sharing recipients, and received 25% of a full share in 2022, which Forbes estimated at $11 million. This year, they receive 50%, with 75% and 100% coming in the ensuing years — so long as the binding agreement for a ballpark is achieved by the January 2024 deadline.
If max revenue sharing gets Fisher at least $44 million and the RSN gets him another $60 million, that represents more than 100 million reasons for him to hurry his Las Vegas ballpark deal but remain in the Bay Area for the interim years.
The A’s would not receive their Bay Area RSN money once they relocate to Las Vegas. However, that contract would be extended for games played in Sacramento, the Chronicle reported last month. Sacramento is a neutral site and current home of the Giants’ top farm team.
It’s possible the Giants could be encouraged by Commissioner Rob Manfred to take in the A’s so long as it’s guaranteed the A’s would ultimately be leaving the Bay Area. The Giants, who would greatly benefit from a one-team market, have stuck by their territorial rights in the South Bay, granted to them by previous A’s ownership, to prevent the A’s from moving to San Jose.
While the Giants could charge the A’s rent at Oracle Park — probably far more than the $1.25 million per year the A’s pay at the Coliseum — and take a cut of concessions, parking and other game-day revenue, sharing Oracle Park would be inconvenient on many fronts.
One challenge is where to place a temporary A’s clubhouse near Oracle Park, because the Giants’ baseball operations department would not want to empty the home clubhouse whenever their team leaves town. Another issue is ticket pricing — the Giants would not want to lose fans to cheaper-priced A’s games, so A’s prices might need to be similar to Giants prices.
Summerlin, the third option listed by Kaval, has plenty of drawbacks — beyond the lost Bay Area television money — including a tiny capacity and extreme heat at the roof-less desert ballpark.
If the A’s don’t work out a lease extension at the Coliseum, there may be a way for the A’s to play games in April and May in Summerlin, and move to San Francisco for the summer months, enabling them to keep their RSN money.
Reno was mentioned as an option during the Nevada legislature hearings in June that resulted in Fisher receiving $380 million in public funding for his ballpark, but the inferior facilities at the Diamondbacks’ Triple-A facility and high elevation — on top of the lost television money — would make it a far less desirable alternative.
While Kaval listed three options for the interim years, Fisher was quoted this week in the Las Vegas Review-Journal saying the A’s “haven’t had the conversation” with MLB on where they’d play from 2025 to 2027. MLB has said the matter will be hashed out in the relocation process.
Wherever the A’s play in those three years, the players’ union would need to sign off on the location. Fisher recently submitted his relocation application to MLB, to be reviewed by the relocation committee. Getting 75% approval in a vote by MLB’s 30 owners is required for a relocation.
Reach John Shea: jshea@sfchronicle.com; Twitter: @JohnSheaHey
