Oakland A’s Could Play Home Games at AT&T Park

MLB puts O.co Coliseum officials on notice.

Kyle Terada – USA TODAY Sports

The Oakland Athletics, currently without a home for the 2014 season, could play their home games at AT&T Park, also the home of the San Francisco Giants. This is according to a report from The San Francisco Chronicle written by Phillip Matier And Andrew Ross.

Matier and Ross’s report states that Major League Baseball will aid the A’s in the move for the 2014 season should the A’s and officials for the O.co Coliseum be unable to agree on terms for a new lease. MLB seeks a two-year lease for the A’s while Coliseum officials would like at least a five-year deal.

But that’s not viewed as the only sticking point.

Negotiations have also been slowed due to the issue of food and beverage concessions. The A’s have managed those for all events at O.co including non-A’s related events such as Raiders games. The A’s have collected the majority of the revenue generated by concessions from those events. The Coliseum would like to see more of a return from those concession sales.

Now MLB has stepped in and placed some heat on the Coliseum’s governing board with this “announcement”. Baseball wants something done – now. Two members of the Coliseum’s board are Oakland City Council members and another two are members of the Alameda County supervisors. Getting political? Perhaps.

Something else to keep in mind. The A’s and Giants have the same home date on nine occasions in 2014. Some logistics would need worked out should a temporary move be in order.

There is an underlying factor here as well. Should the A’s move to AT&T, this might be a signal of the A’s leaving the Bay Area – for good. It’s not likely the A’s would be able to move to San Jose – at this point anyway – since the Giants have claimed that as their market. Plus, we know MLB holds they do not want to A’s to move there.

Could the A’s be moved to a new city and out of Oakland? That could be the last resort here.

The Giants would need to give approval for the A’s to play at their home. Doubt the Giants would decline as there would be more income in their pockets. Who turns down that kind of dough?

More likely scenario is the A’s get a two-year deal with O.co – with MLB’s push. A less likely scenario is the A’s move to AT&T for one or two years as the owners look for either a new city to call home or sell the team.