It is widely known that the Oakland Athletics need a new baseball-only park. The O.Co Coliseum is the only venue left in the United States that still hosts both football and baseball. Additionally, the past couple of years, the facilities dealt with numerous sewage and flooding issues that have not only grossed out fans, but also once forced the Athletics to share the Oakland Raiders’ locker rooms with that night’s opponent – the Seattle Mariners. Now that the stadium will be 50 years old next year and it is no longer suitable for baseball or football, it is time for the A’s to get their own venue.
Since becoming the new MLB Commissioner, Rob Manfred has vowed that he will work closely with the Athletics to get them a new stadium. This issue came up once again during the Baseball Writers Association of America meeting that took place before the All-Star game. Manfred once again stated that the A’s need a new ballpark and it needs to be in Oakland.
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However, the efforts to get the A’s a new stadium started back in 2009 and not much has come about in those six years. The prior MLB Commissioner Bud Selig even formed a committee to help solve the A’s issues with their stadium, but no resolution was suggested. Even though there are talks every year on this subject, not much action has come from those discussions. It almost seems as though the MLB keeps suggesting that they are working on the problem in order to appease the team and the fans. But, in reality, the MLB is not actually taking enough time to come up with logical solutions.
Additionally, with the Raiders still using the O.Co facilities during football season, the likelihood of a new baseball stadium being built in Oakland is low. The plot of land on which the Coliseum currently rests has been determined as the most logical spot for a new ballpark, but no deal will be struck or no construction will take place until the football team has a new home.
Since the Athletics are not allowed to move to San Jose and the MLB has not been much help over the past couple of years, their best option is to wait and see if the Raiders do build a news stadium in another city. Since the Raiders only signed a one-year lease with the Coliseum for this upcoming football season, the A’s will hopefully have an answer soon as to if a possible new ballpark could imminent. The Athletics have suffered long enough at the O.Co Coliseum.
And look at what a new ballpark did for the San Francisco Giants. Since taking residence at their new stadium in 2000, the Giants have made it to the postseason six times, won the NL Pennant four times and won the World Series three times. Perhaps a new ballpark will have the same effect on the Athletics.