Tag: Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao

Oakland A’s relocation podcast with Daniel Dullum: Kaval mentions A’s will play in San Francisco after 2024

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Oakland A’s team president said at the MLB owners vote in Arlington that the A’s will play at Oracle Park in San Francisco for the remaining three years 2025-27 until the Tropicana ballpark in ready in 2028 in Las Vegas. The A’s will finish their final year at the Oakland Coliseum in 2024. The A’s said they will not rebrand their name and remain the Oakland A’s during the construction period. (photo by the Oakland Athletics file)

On the Oakland A’s relocation podcast with Daniel Dullum:

#1 Daniel, the results of the MLB owners vote certainly didn’t come as a surprise to anyone?

#2 Schools over Stadiums the Nevada education group trying to stop the public financing of the Tropicana ballpark said that their fight is long from over saying, “@EduOverStadiums has a lawsuit and ballot initiative, but needs funding. Give today if you’re not ready to throw in the rosin bag.”

#3 The A’s will not get local TV money if they play in either Sacramento or Nevada. A’s president David Kaval talked on Thursday that the A’s will play their games on an interim basis at Oracle Park in San Francisco from 2025-27 three season after the conclusion of the 2024 season at the Coliseum.

#4 The Oakland 68’s the A’s largest fan group who last year organized the reverse boycott is calling for an all out boycott for opening day at the Oakland Coliseum when the A’s host the Cleveland Guardians on Thu Mar 28, 2024. The Oakland 68s said for no one show up for the home opener in 2024 after A’s ownership has abandon Oakland. If you thought last season’s crowds were bad 2024’s crowds might draw crowds of 1,000 or less per game.

#5 In essence Daniel, in your opinion is this pretty much a done deal and there is nothing stopping the A’s from leaving Oakland now not even a last ditch effort by Schools over Stadiums?

Daniel Dullum is a MLB beat writer and does the A’s relocation podcasts for http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Oakland A’s relocation podcast with Daniel Dullum: Mayor’s gift boxes and letter an attempt to sway MLB owners; It boils down to MLB owners vote Nov 14th

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One of the boxes that displays a post card on of Oakland and a Los Angeles Angels baseball card of Angels owner Arte Moreno that will be mailed out to Moreno. Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao included a letter letting 15 of the 30 owners know that Oakland has the funding and the infrastructure plan to build at Howard Terminal in Oakland and to vote no on the A’s relocation. (AP News photo)

On the Oakland A’s relocation podcast with Daniel:

#1 Daniel, Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao met with the City Council, and the Port of Oakland leadership and who City Chamber of Oakland A’s fans and media last Tuesday to present to MLB and those watching that the A’s belong in Oakland. This most likely was a last ditch effort to try and convince the owners not to move the team to Las Vegas.

#2 Thao, City Councilwoman Rebecca Kaplan, the Port, and fans had a chance to speak and sell the idea of why the owners who are considering voting yes on moving the A’s to Vegas should change their vote.

#3 The biggest push at the Tuesday meeting was the City of Oakland has a plan in place for infrastructure that would accommodate retail, hotels and the ballpark. Mayor Thao said she is ready to pick up the phone if and when A’s owner John Fisher is willing to talk about coming back to the table.

#4 The owners since this whole relocation idea from the A’s went down last June have been air tight silent about where this will go. There has been speculation that a few teams could vote no because this would be a conflict with their marketing and broadcasting that was previously going into the Las Vegas market.

#5 It does boil down to the owners vote which is expected to take place between Nov 14-16 in Arlington Texas. One caveat that might set the relocation back is the idea of moving a sixth market team to the smallest MLB TV market with the smallest ballpark in the majors. Will this be a factor that could also bring some more no votes?

Join Daniel Dullum for the Oakland A’s relocation podcasts Fridays at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

That’s Amaury News and Commentary: Oakland Mayor swings for a Five-Run Homerun 

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Fans and media await Mayor Sheng Thao to address the efforts by the City, City Council and Port of Oakland to keep the A’s in Oakland (photo by Stephen Ruderman Sports Radio Service)

Oakland Mayor Swings for a Five-Run Home-run

That’s Amaury News and Commentary

By Amaury Pi-González

November 7, 2023

OAKLAND–A new resolution by the Oakland City Council, spearheaded by the Mayor of Oakland Shen Thao was a last ditch effort today, November 7, what was a day for elections in other places across the country. It calls major league owners to keep the team in Oakland.

The owners are scheduled to vote next week, with 75% of the owners needed to approve the move of the A’s from Oakland to Las Vegas. “This is our team,” said Mayor Sheng Thao. “We are showing our good faith that we will work hard to keep our team rooted here.” Oakland has multiple sites.

There are viable options,” she said. “We continue to urge John Fisher to come back to the table and we have viable buyers should the team go up for sale.”

Rebecca Kaplan, Oakland council member, said, “It will be cheaper to build here, it will be faster to build here. “And the fan base is stronger here.” City of Oakland leaders argue they can rapidly accommodate a new stadium project and that $428 million in grants has been secured.

Meanwhile, in Carson City, Nevada. A Nevada judge threw out a proposed ballot referendum back by a statewide teachers union that would give voters the final say on whether to give $380 million in public funding (approved by Joe Lombardo, Governor of the State of Nevada) for a proposed $1.5 billion A’s stadium on the Las Vegas Strip.

As a Bay Area resident since 1969, who broadcasted the Oakland A’s and the San Francisco Giants, among other teams I have made my opinion public and very clear in two different languages. I believe the A’s belong in Oakland and to the Bay Area.

They are a storied and successful franchise, having won Four World Series Titles at the much-maligned Oakland Alameda County Coliseum.

However, this last-ditch attempt by the Mayor of Oakland and the city council is like going for an impossible 5-run Home Run in baseball, or maybe a Hail Mary Pass in Football, which has a nine percent chance of completion. Quote: ‘I had only one superstition. I make sure to touch all the bases when I hit a home run. -Babe Ruth.

Amaury Pi Gonzalez does News and Commentary weekly at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

That’s Amaury News and Commentary podcast: Oakland Mayor hoping to sway owners vote with A’s resolution; Schools over Stadiums to appeal Judge’s ruling

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Howard Terminal rendering. Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao, City Council, and the Port put on a presentation on Tuesday that City Hall hopes to sway some of the MLB owners to vote no on an A’s relocation (Rendering of Howard Terminal from the Oakland Athletics)

On That’s Amaury News and Commentary podcast:

#1 Amaury, among the Mayor and the City Council goals in adopting a resolution at City Hall. Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao and the City Council are showed the infrastructure of Howard Terminal, the benefits of having a park at the Terminal and something on the drawing board that might change the MLB owners vote. After today’s meeting do you see owner changing they’re minds and giving the A’s a chance to build at Howard Terminal?

#2 Amaury, the odds are starting to dim and Mayor Thao is hoping for a ninth inning rally to stay in the hunt to persuade the owners vote. Thao says that the city does have a plan and budget to build at Howard Terminal but the A’s walked away. MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred said Oakland had no deal hence Manfred and the A’s are ready to open for business in Las Vegas.

#3 Nevada District Judge James Todd Russell ruled in favor of Oakland A’s lobbyists Danny Thompson and Thomas Morely who took Schools over Stadiums to Monday’s court hearing in District court to throw out Schools over Stadiums attempt to put a referendum on the Nov 2024 ballot to stop public funding for a Las Vegas A’s ballpark and that funds should be used to support schools.

#4 Judge Russell said that Schools over Stadiums would have to refile their petition and that Schools over Stadiums would need to use the full text of SB1 or appeal the case to a higher court.

#5 Thompson and Morely didn’t respond to media inquiries for comments. Schools over Stadiums spokesman Alexander Marks made it clear that they will appeal saying the decision was disappointing but not uncommon adding that Schools over Stadiums plans to refile the referendum and that there is plenty of time to refile as the signature deadline is June of 2024.

Amaury Pi Gonzalez is the lead radio voice on the Oakland A’s Spanish radio network on 1010 KIQI San Francisco and 990 KATD Pittsburg and does News and Commentary at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Oakland A’s relocation podcast with Daniel Dullum: Former A’s executive Andy Dolich says MLB owners should reject A’s relocation; Mayor, Oakland City Council, and Port of Oakland call for press conference Tuesday

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Former Oakland Tribune columnist Dave Newhouse (top) and former Oakland A’s executive Andy Dolich (below) in photo promoting their book “Goodbye Oakland.” Dolich wrote a recent San Jose Mercury News column asking MLB owners to vote no on relocating the A’s at the MLB owners vote on Nov 14-16. (photo from Books Inc.)

On the A’s relocation podcast with Daniel:

#1 Former Oakland A’s executive Andy Dolich wrote his own commentary in the Mercury News telling MLB owners to vote no on the A’s move to Las Vegas and keep them in the sixth largest market in Oakland and go back and finish negotiating with the Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao and the city of Oakland.

#2 Dolich said that MLB owners would be making a huge mistake if they were to leave the sixth largest TV market for the smallest and that every possible effort should be made to keep the A’s in Oakland where they belong.

#3 Dolich was an A’s executive under the Haas family between 1980-1994. Dolich and the A’s won three American League Championships getting in the World Series in 1989-1990 and won one of those World Series in 1989 against the San Francisco Giants. Dolich says the A’s can win in Oakland and team owner John Fisher just won’t spend the money to do it and the owners should not vote for the relocation.

#4 Dolich said that the A’s attendance is not because the A’s are the worst team in baseball but because it’s self inflicted as a mechanism to turn their customers off and the A’s can point to poor attendance for wanting to get out of Oakland.

#5 Dolich also wrote that he’s in favor of keeping the A’s at the Oakland Coliseum location and build the Coliseum complex to professional sports. Build a state of the art ball park for the A’s, a stadium to lure an NFL team. Have retail, hotels, and restaurants to lure customers that can change the Coliseum, neighborhood and bring more fans to East Oakland.

#6 The problem with all of these scenarios is that A’s owner John Fisher is not selling. If the deal does fall through or the owners do vote no will he go back to the City of Oakland with hat in hand and try all over again to get a ball park built at Howard Terminal?

#7 Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao, the Oakland City Council, and the Port of Oakland are holding a press conference on Tue Nov 7 at Oakland City Hall regarding a proposal to keep the A’s in Oakland. Although a deal and a plan is already worked out to relocate the A’s upon the MLB owner vote Nov 14-16th in Arlington. The City of Oakland could use litigation to stop MLB and the Oakland A’s from relocating the team if the City can get a deal to build a Howard Terminal ballpark and show they can produce financing to keep the team in Oakland.

Join Daniel Dullum for the Oakland A’s podcasts Fridays at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

That’s Amaury News and Commentary Podcast: Mayor and MLB Commissioner very far apart on any baseball future in Oakland

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Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao (pictured) and MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred (not pictured) seem much further apart after Manfred said in a recent San Francisco Chronicle report that there was no discussion between he and Thao about an expansion team for Oakland or the city keeping the A’s name (AP News photo)

On That’s Amaury News and Commentary podcast:

#1 MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred says in a San Francisco Chronicle report, that everybody likes to pile on MLB adding that you have to look at what Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao has done and hasn’t done. She is great saying MLB did this wrong and that wrong but did she handle this well, “I don’t think so” said Manfred.

#2 It should be noted that Mayor Thao was only in office four months when the A’s announced that they would leaving Oakland and prior to that she said she was in negotiations with the A’s to secure a deal that was nearly 10 percent of the way being completed before the A’s said they had a binding deal with the Rio in Las Vegas.

#3 It also was reported that Manfred was agitated during the interview saying that Thao should be blamed for losing it’s third professional team after Oakland lost the Raiders and Warriors under previous Mayor Libby Schaff.

#4 Manfred went onto say that there was never a discussion about expansion in Oakland and keeping the A’s name, that it was simply not true, and that he and Thao never discussed these alleged demands.

#5 Amaury, the way you see the relationship between the Commissioner and the Mayor of Oakland being so far apart would say the chances of getting anything for baseball done in Oakland is almost all but dead?

Amaury Pi Gonzalez does News and Commentary podcasts at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Oakland A’s relocation special report podcast with Augie Musenburg: Baseball Commissioner Manfred says Oakland Mayor Thao was not truthful

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MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred addresses the media. Manfred said this week that Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao is not being truthful regarding getting a new stadium deal done in Oakland (AP file photo)

On the Oakland A’s relocation podcast with Augie Musenburg:

#1 A San Francisco Chronicle column written by John Shea title Oakland vs. MLB as Major League Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred and Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao exchange unpleasantries regarding who dropped the ball in trying to get a deal done in Oakland.

#2 You might recall that during the All Star game in Seattle Mayor Thao went to Seattle and presented Manfred with 30 copies of books for each team owner documenting how Oakland was close to a deal with the A’s before team president David Kaval had called and pulled out. Do you feel that this is the crux of why Manfred has some strong words about Thao after giving him the documentation and he felt she’s not telling the truth?

#3 Manfred said that Mayor Thao was good at pointing out how MLB got this wrong and the A’s got that wrong but questioned if Thao handled getting the A’s deal done in Oakland well Manfred said “Don’t think so.” It should be noted that Thao had been newly elected and had only been in office a few weeks when the A’s said they had a binding deal with Las Vegas while they were in the middle of negotiating with Oakland and backed out of the deal.

#4 Manfred also said that Thao is about to lose her third team, making it sound that this happened under her watch and that she’s not telling the truth. Manfred also said he and Thao never talked about Oakland getting an expansion team and the city keeping the A’s name. Was Manfred upset about being presented the books and that he wants this deal in Vegas all along.

#5 Manfred also said that Thao didn’t reach out to him after winning election. Manfred said that Thao didn’t reach out after she won election and took that Manfred took that as a signal they weren’t negotiating about the A’s anymore.

Augie Mesenburg is a podcast contributor at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Oakland named as one of two expansion sites once A’s leave for Vegas in 2028

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Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao addresses the media during a Wed Feb 15, 2023 press conference at Oakland City Hall. Mayor Thao has said the City of Oakland would consider extending the A’s lease through the 2027 season if the city would retain the A’s name and the city gets an expansion team. (AP photo file)

By Amaury Pi Gonzalez and Jerry Feitelberg

OAKLAND–You might recall Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao said that if Oakland A’s are looking for extending they’re lease between 2025-27 before moving to Las Vegas the city of Oakland wants assurance of an MLB expansion team. According to USA Today reports two high officials in MLB said that Oakland and Nashville have been named as the top two cities for expansion.

The A’s ballpark is expected to be completed at the Tropicana Hotel and Casino on the Las Vegas strip by 2028. The A’s are committed to play at the Oakland Coliseum through the 2024 season. Then after 2024 where do the A’s play? Several sites have been suggested Salt Lake City, Las Vegas Aviators park, Reno, and San Francisco.

Mayor Thao said as long as Oakland is assured an expansion team when the A’s leave in 2028 the city would grant the A’s an extension to play at the Coliseum for an additional three more years until they pack up and leave for Sin City.

With the two high ranking officials saying Oakland is on the list for expansion Thao will most likely extend the A’s lease through the 2027 season. The officials who were not named said the city of Oakland needs to secure an owner who will build a new ballpark most likely at the Howard Terminal location. Mayor Thao would most likely need to identify an owner who will build the new ballpark and take charge of the expansion team to make it happen.

Thao had said that the city in part of extending the Oakland Coliseum lease for the A’s would retain the Oakland A’s name and brand. A’s owner John Fisher had said that the A’s will not relinquish the name when they move to Vegas and intends to keep the A’s brand.

It was also mentioned in the report that the city and the A’s were close to a deal in before the A’s announced they were leaving for Vegas. Thao had said the city and A’s were ten percent of the way to finalizing a deal but the A’s broke off negotiations and said they had a binding deal with the Rio in Las Vegas. The deal at the Rio was later broke off and now the A’s are trying to build at the Tropicana location which the A’s are waiting for MLB owners approval a vote that is expected to take place in December.

Amaury Pi Gonzalez is the lead play by play voice on the Oakland A’s Spanish radio network and Jerry Feitelberg is an Oakland A’s reporter at http://www.sportsradioservice.com