Earlier this month, the Athletics made the announcement they will look at other cities for a new home if Oakland did not approve the team's plans for a new waterfront ballpark, Howard Terminal Stadium. Now, the A's have officially begun exploring their options for a possible departure out of the Bay Area.
Team executives will travel to Las Vegas and Portland -- CBS Sports cited both as potential landing spots if the A's move -- as they will hear pitches from both cities. This week, a four-person traveling A's party, led by owner Josh Fisher, will visit Las Vegas, according to Oregon Live and FOX KTVU. Next month, the club will make its official visit to Portland, Oregon, where team president Dave Kaval, vice president Billy Beane and executive Sandy Dean are set to make the trip.
The A's proposed Howard Terminal has spent years in limbo and undergone three major redesigns in the past four years; the club first unveiled their plans in 2018. Even before Howard Terminal, the team had multiple sites for a new ballpark in Oakland, Fremont and San Jose, though none resulted in a groundbreaking.
If their proposal is accepted, the new stadium would allow the A's to move out of the multipurpose Oakland Coliseum (renamed RingCentral Coliseum in 2020), which was built in 1966. With this recent news of the A's planned trips to meet with other cities' local government officials, this could put pressure on Oakland officials to approve the new stadium project. The Oakland city council is expected to review the latest Howard Terminal proposal in July.
In recent years, two major professional sports teams have left Oakland; the NFL's Raiders and the NBA's Golden State Warriors, who used to play at Oracle Arena, adjacent to the Oakland Coliseum. The A's are the lone tenant and last remaining professional sports team to be using the Coliseum.
