The Oakland Athletics are in the middle of what might be the saddest relocation plan in modern sports. Owner John Fisher wants to move the team to Las Vegas, and by 2027 the team wants to be playing in the Sin City, per CBS Sports. The Nevada State Senate approved a new stadium for the A’s, a $380 million project that might not even have everyone fully on board. The A’s ownership knows that they don’t want to be in Oakland past their lease expiration in 2024, and their blatant quitting on the city of Oakland and its local fans sparked outrage from the supporters.
Oakland A’s fans’ ‘reverse boycott’ was actually genius
Oakland A’s fans gave ultimate middle finger to ownership with perfect ‘reverse boycott’
Neville E. Guard-USA TODAY Sports
So what did they do? They boycotted—actually, they Reverse Boycotted. In protest of the ownership, over 27K fans filed into Oakland Coliseum for the A’s game against the Tampa Bay Rays, on the same day that the Nevada Senate approved the new ballpark project. The exact total of fans in attendance? 27,759, over triple the average home game attendance this season.
Fans gathered hours before gates opened in protest of Fisher and his quitting on the city. Clad in shirts that said “SELL,” A’s fans made their voices heard before the game. Fans raised $30,000 for the efforts, and 7,000 “SELL” shirts were given out among the masses.
During the game, there would be moments of planned silence during stretches of the game, followed by loud chants of “SELL THE TEAM,” “STAY IN OAKLAND,” and other chants during the game. Listen to this video and tell me you don’t feel a sense of pride. That crowd was LOUD with the chants, and it was perfect.
The A’s pitcher couldn’t hear on the pitch communicator because of how loud the crowd was. That’s powerful work. People were still trying to get into the park during the ninth inning, to support the Reverse Boycott.
On top of that, the A’s defeated the Rays 2-1 to extend their winning streak to seven games. As the game came to a close, the crowd erupted, a show of support and passion from a fanbase that has always cared about this team, more than the ownership ever did.
The reverse boycott even got a shoutout on the Tampa Bay Rays television broadcast, a cool moment explaining the reverse boycott.
A’s fans deserve the Oakland Athletics, they don’t deserve their crappy ownership though. The showing in the reverse boycott proved that the city of Oakland and their fanbase cares about the team, and the A’s would be a lot better off staying in Oakland.
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