The Oakland Athletics officially have a place to play in 2014 after renewing their lease at the O.co Coliseum, according to Benny Evangelista of the San Francisco Chronicle. The team agreed to a two-year extension with the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum Authority on Monday.
Athletics extend Coliseum lease through 2015
The Oakland A’s will play in their current stadium for at least two more seasons.
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The Athletics’ long-term stadium situation has been well-documented in recent years: The team wants to move to nearby San Jose, the Giants want to block the move based on their territorial rights in that area, and Bud Selig’s Blue Ribbon Committee has sat around for four years thinking about the issue but resolving nothing. However, Oakland’s short-term situation was even more dire -- they literally did not have a place to play, as their lease was set to expire at the end of this calendar year. When negotiations faltered over the length of a potential lease extension, Major League Baseball stepped in and threatened to schedule the team’s home games at San Francisco’s AT&T Park rather than agree to a contract in Oakland which lasted more than five years.
One major difference in this lease is that the Athletics will gain control over which vendors are chosen for the stadium’s concessions, as well as keeping the team in control of concession revenue. The team had not previously had the power to choose its concession vendors.
Lew Wolff stated (via Evangelista) that the two-year commitment was “fine with me,” adding that, “I am prepared to do either two or five years. The JPA preferred two years. We can discuss a longer term later.”
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