Athletics owner John Fisher apologized in a letter to fans Monday for the team’s impending departure from Oakland.
Fisher released the letter a day before the A’s begin their final home series in Oakland, where they have spent the past 57 seasons. The team is moving to Las Vegas in 2028 after Fisher failed to reach an agreement with the city of Oakland to build a more modern stadium. The A’s will play in Sacramento, at the home stadium of the minor league River Cats, from 2025-2027 with an option for 2028 after failing to reach an agreement to extend their lease in Oakland during that time.
The A’s have called the Oakland Coliseum home for their entire tenure in the city, but fans have complained in recent years about the stadium’s deteriorating condition. Fisher’s decision last November to relocate the team sparked outrage among fans. The 63-year-old, who bought the A’s with Lew Wolff in 2005, said he was doing everything he could to keep the franchise in Oakland.
“We proposed and pursued five different locations in the Bay Area. And despite mutual and continued efforts to make a deal for the Howard Terminal project, we fell short,” Fisher wrote. “… I know there is great disappointment, even bitterness. While I wish I could speak to each of you individually, I can tell you this from the bottom of my heart: We tried. Staying in Oakland was our goal, it was our mission, and we failed. And for that I am truly sorry.”
The A’s will miss the playoffs for the fourth straight season, but the team will leave a legacy of success in the Bay Area. The franchise won four World Series titles, six American League pennants and 17 division championships after moving to Oakland in 1968. Under Fisher’s ownership, the A’s made seven playoff appearances, including four division championships.
“While the A’s have previously played in Philadelphia and Kansas City, Oakland has been home to the greatest era in the franchise’s more than 123-year history,” Fisher wrote.
The A’s open their final series in Oakland, a three-game series, on Tuesday against the Texas Rangers. The team will commemorate its time in Oakland with giveaways, including a collector’s ticket and a miniature replica of the Coliseum.
The decision to leave town has angered fans in Oakland and the team’s previously low attendance has plummeted. They drew just over 10,000 fans per game this season, last in the Major League, but a sellout crowd will fill the 46,765-seat Coliseum for the final time on Thursday.
The move isn’t just unpopular with fans in Oakland. In February, Las Vegas Mayor Carolyn Goodman said the team’s stadium plan in her city “doesn’t make sense” and that A’s owners should have gone back to the drawing board and pitched a new plan to the Bay Area.
“I personally think [the A’s have] “We have to find a way to stay in Oakland and make our dream come true,” she told the Front Office Sports Today podcast.