According to this article, the Athletics are close to a deal for a new stadium in Fremont, California. That’s about 30 miles south east of Oakland.
The site is just off I-880, called Pacific Commons. Here’s the aerial view of the site, although this doesn’t show the current development. For more, check out this photo essay of the possible sites in Fremont from the The New A’s Ballpark blog.
One economist sees Oakland as the big winner in all this:
Oakland could be the biggest winner of all if the A’s actually do move to Fremont, according to Porter, the economics professor.
“If the A’s keep the name ‘Oakland’ when they move, Oakland gets the best of all worlds,” Porter said. “They don’t have to spend millions to build a stadium, they don’t have to give up land for a huge stadium that would be vacant for all but 81 days a year, and they would still keep the name recognition.”
Stay tuned.
No, this’ll just lead us to the Oakland Athletics of Fremont.
OAF. Uh oh…
The FrOakland A’s.
Fremont has all the charm of a stray dog, but then again the Colisieum is a pit bull in that scenario.
Fremont should be fine, but the base north of Oakland will be peeved, that’s quite a corridor change from Oakland/Vallejo to Oakland/Fremont. The change in the center point will probably encompass a greater amount of disposable income as well.
With the San Jose Valley swelling further south and the central valley getting closer the ability for the A’s to transform into a THE South Bay team looks pretty good.
Especially if it is accomplished in what looks to be a upcoming downturn for the Giants in terms of talent.
“Using baseball as an example, [economist Phil Porter] said approximately 60 percent of the price paid goes to pay players’ salaries. Because most players don’t live in the cities where they play, that money is lost to the community.”
This is probably just an over-simplification of what the economist actually said. But the idea that all of a player’s salary is lost to the area where he plays is a joke. These guys gotta live, at least temporarily, somewhere close to their home ballpark, and a lot of their money will find its way into the local economy.
I might miss my guess, but I bet a significant piece of Derek Jeter’s salary goes to New York nightlife and other local amenities. You can argue that a team doesn’t have a big impact on local economies, which is probably true because even the biggest sports franchise is tiny potatoes compared to, say, Microsoft. But it’s not like the entire ticket price suddenly disappears to the South Pacific, or even Switzerland.
Freeway traffic around the Pacific Commons site is already bad enough in the evenings. The lack of a BART station will be a big problem.
And the aerial shot isn’t centered well. The proposed site is the area southeast of Bunche Dr.
The Warmsprings site was the first place I thought of when Fremont was first mentioned, but it doesn’t seem nearly big enough.
The A’s have been studiously removing Oakland from their away jerseys. Rumor is a Oakland A’s of Fremont team name may be in the works.