By oaklandsi (144.91.218.232) on Wednesday, May 05, 2010 - 10:39 am:

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/05/05/MNNS1D9GQU.DTL

Oakland's team isn't getting an A in attendance

John Shea, Chronicle Staff Writer

Wednesday, May 5, 2010

Empty seats were the order of the evening Monday when the A's hosted the Texas Rangers.

Empty seats were the order of the evening Monday when the...Even late in the game, with the A's mounting a comeback, ...

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John Shea

* Oakland's team isn't getting an A in attendance 05.05.10
* Selig needs to speak up on Arizona law 05.04.10
* The Bull Pen 05.02.10
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The Question

Are the A's deliberately trying to keep fans away?
Yes, they're making a case for San Jose
No, economy and old Coliseum are main reasons
Trading away popular players doesn't help
View Results

(Disclaimer: About This Poll. SF Gate polls are strictly surveys of those who choose to participate and are therefore not valid statistical samples.)


Moments before the A's played the Texas Rangers on Monday night in Oakland, owner Lew Wolff looked at a mostly empty Coliseum and quipped, "Maybe they're delaying the game until the crowd gets bigger."

No dice.

The A's tiniest crowd in seven years, announced at 8,874 but appearing much smaller, exemplified the decline of the team, which once was the preferred choice for Bay Area baseball fans but has fallen on hard times.

Attendance dropped last year to the worst in the majors. The team hasn't been in playoff contention since 2006. Ownership is pursuing a move to San Jose, inspiring fans to hold up signs disparaging Wolff, the managing general partner. One of the A's pitchers contended, via Twitter, that fans were boycotting the team.

With a Major League Baseball committee in its 14th month examining possible sites for the A's, fans question the team's direction: Have the A's done enough to stay in Oakland? Or have they done just little enough to ensure a move?

Steve Douglas is a fifth-generation Oakland native, season-ticket holder for 25 years and proprietor of Oakland's Douglas Parking. He said he's friends with several A's executives but, "I believe more could've been done by the A's and the city of Oakland to work toward keeping the A's here. It seems like the commitment on both sides should have been better for the last several years, not just the last year."

The A's failed to sell out Opening Night despite having the smallest capacity - 35,067 - in the majors. On April 16, they were outdrawn by their top minor-league team, the Sacramento River Cats, 14,014 to 12,225.

When the champion New York Yankees visited Oakland four days later, fewer than 20,000 fans attended the series opener. For some A's-Yankees games in the early 2000s, more than 55,000 packed the Coliseum.

"I'm an old Oakland boy, so it's painful. It hurts," said former A's great Reggie Jackson, now a Yankees employee. "I want to see them do well here. ... It's hard for an old-timer to see this."

Radio executive Bob Agnew, who briefly consulted before the season at the A's station (KTRB), accused A's management of wanting to ditch Oakland all along.

"From my perspective, the game plan was to get the hell out of there and do it bare bones," said Agnew, who for 16 years was the program director at KNBR, the Giants' radio home. "The A's never had a cohesive plan to market. Always using the excuses, 'We're small. We're second in the area.' That's baloney."
A's Oakland effort

While Wolff is ownership's front man, the majority owner is John Fisher. Fisher, son of the Gap's founders, is one of baseball's eight billionaire owners, according to Forbes, but fans direct their abuse at Wolff.

Wolff seethes over accusations he hasn't tried to make it work in Oakland and questions whether cynics are informed of the facts - including fans such as Jorge Leon, who recently held up signs at the Coliseum reading "Lew Wolff Hates Oakland" and "Wolff Lied. He Never Tried."

In a two-hour interview with The Chronicle on Monday, Wolff provided access to a 227-page book that details his efforts to build a ballpark in Oakland. He said he looked exclusively in Oakland from 2003 - when he worked for previous A's ownership as vice president of venue development; he bought the team in 2005 - to 2006, when he announced a Fremont plan that ultimately failed.

"I did nothing except focus on Oakland sites," Wolff said. "The only thought in my mind was trying to do it in Oakland. I thought we'd be under construction in Oakland four years ago. I tried as hard as I could. We covered every base we could think of. It wasn't a matter of weeks or months. It was a matter of three years. So if someone puts up a sign that Lew's a liar and didn't do any work, that's his opinion."

Wolff said he considered at least a half-dozen Oakland sites, each pursuit ending with a major roadblock that made building unrealistic. His book was made available to the committee formed by baseball Commissioner Bud Selig to examine the A's ballpark situation.

"I'm not privy to what the committee is doing right now," Wolff said, "but if they've got some plan I don't know of, I'd be shocked."
Antiquated stadium

The A's are handicapped at the antiquated Coliseum, their home since they came to Oakland in 1968. But while they have posted annual profits, thanks to baseball's revenue-sharing program (the A's received $32 million last year), they haven't exactly taken a positive approach to wooing fans.

Wolff's reviews of the Coliseum haven't improved since he called it "despicable" in a December 2005 interview with The Chronicle's editorial board, insisting co-tenancy with the Raiders couldn't work. He began tarping over the seats in the upper deck in 2006, intending to make the seating more intimate and cost-effective, but also assuring that attendance would be limited.

In March 2009, after city officials asked Selig to work with Oakland in pursuing a new ballpark, Wolff immediately distributed a news release, saying, "We have fully exhausted our time and resources" and "have no interest in covering old ground again."

The A's hope Selig's committee will agree the only option is San Jose.
Where is everybody?

Back in the A's good ol' days, they outdrew the Giants by 1 million in 1990. More recently, they slipped from an acceptable 17th (out of 30) in attendance in 2003 to last in 2009.

A's President Mike Crowley gave several reasons for dwindling attendance.

"Certainly, the economy is not helping the matter," he said. "The fact we haven't won the last couple of years has played into it. The venue is an issue for us, and the fact we're kind of in limbo has created a bit of a problem."

And the marketing efforts aren't working. The A's cut some of their popular community-building programs, including FanFest, an offseason event that typically drew more than 20,000 fans who bought more than 100,000 single-game tickets. They've replaced it with a Fan Appreciation Tailgate, held on the Coliseum parking lot.

"Even though FanFest was in January, it gave you an appetite for baseball," said A's fan Lance Haug, a truck driver living in Fremont. "I miss it. Now they do it two days before the season. It's kind of sad, actually."
Cheaper beer

Jim Leahey, vice president of sales and marketing, said the problems aren't because of a lack of effort. He noted that the A's for this season cut ticket prices 10 percent on average, stopped charging for parking for Tuesday games and lowered domestic beer prices from $5.50 for 12 ounces to $4.99 for 16 ounces.

But the cuts in tickets and beer prices went largely unnoticed - in comparison with national headlines prompted when Anaheim's Angels slashed the cost of tickets and beer.

Regarding the idea that the A's are setting themselves up for attendance failure, Leahey said, "We're not doing this with any secret plan to take something away. We try to do what will get people interested in the product. We're advertising all over TV and on billboards. We're here, and we'll be here next year and the year after, and we want people here."

Wolff added, "This idea we're trying to discourage people from coming is a bunch of crap. Every Wednesday, we have almost 9,000 $2 tickets. ... It should be embarrassing to all of us that we can't draw people at $2."

Not only did the A's have the majors' lowest attendance last year, they had the worst radio rating despite playing in the nation's fourth-largest market. By comparison, the Giants' rating was sixth highest in the majors.

While both Bay Area teams are shown on Comcast cable stations, the Giants ranked 17th in baseball last season in local TV ratings while the A's ranked ahead of only the Washington Nationals.
Pitcher's tweet

Reliever Brad Ziegler suggested ownership's desire to move to San Jose has prompted fans to "boycott" games. He made his point on Twitter while referring to a push in Arizona to boycott Diamondbacks game in reaction to the state's immigration bill.

"It's not much fun to play in front of an empty stadium in your home park," Ziegler tweeted. "We're going through that when A's fans boycott our games (because) ownership has threatened to move the team. The lack of fans gives them all the more reason to seek other alternatives for a new home city."

At the Fan Appreciation Tailgate, players signed autographs and answered questions, and former players posed with World Series trophies, among other activities. A booth was set up to sell tickets, but when a saleswoman was asked how many were sold, she said only, "I've got some leads."

Not many, apparently. While the Giants list the equivalent of 21,000 full season-ticket holders, the A's have fewer than 5,000.

By raiderjohn (64.139.4.178) on Wednesday, May 05, 2010 - 12:18 pm:

Wolff had changed a lot of the STH policies in recent years, Strike 1.

Wolff closed off the entire 3rd deck for 3 years, you limit yourself revenue/attendance wise that way, Strike 2.

High Street plan was never realistic before he put pen to paper. Strike 3.

How do you fix it?

Remove the tarps. Put the A's back on broadcast TV, you advertise and reach a much larger audience, it may work for hockey and hoops, but baseball is affordable even to the lower class, when you advertise. 860 is a step in the right direction, yet losing Lurie is not.
Cost control, well when you remove the tarps, limit the seating to between the baselines, put flew barriers to divert fans away from those areas. Accessability and costs have NEVER deterred A's fans, so for Wolff to say he's not charging for parking, he's reduced beer costs, it's a bunch of crap, just like the High Street plan. The damage has already done, this is miniscule compared to the entire picture. Getting rid of FanFest was huge, it's just like removing the a's from broadcast TV, you eliminating a whole segment of fans. Even if you remove the tarps, put the A's back on broadcast tv and go full bore on advertising, go with 4 bobbleheads a year, it may take a championship season to bring the lost fans back.

By mroakland (76.102.83.101) on Wednesday, May 05, 2010 - 04:26 pm:

As long as this team is actively pursuing relocation nothing will change. The foundation of this team in Oakland has crumbled and no amount of giveaways or promotions will fix this crumbling foundation.

By eyleenn (38.99.44.122) on Monday, May 10, 2010 - 11:26 am:

Was just looking at old articles in the SF Business Times (at work) and found this from exactly a year ago:

******
Oakland City Attorney (and big A’s fan) John Russo is mad as hell and he’s not going to take it anymore with A’s owner’s Lew Wolff’s tale that he wanted to stay in Oakland.

Since pulling the plug on a proposed Fremont ballpark months ago, Wolff has been greasing the skids — and pointing the finger at the City of Oakland as the guilty party for failing to make a stadium project happen.

“We have fully exhausted our time and resources over the years with the City of Oakland,” he said last March, hoping to put an end to speculation that the franchise might resume discussions there after Fremont didn’t work out. The city’s small corporate base and aged stadium mean the Athletics must look elsewhere, he says.

That’s drawn a high-profile rebuttal from Russo.

“Claiming the A’s have made an exhaustive effort to stay in Oakland is like George W. Bush saying he did everything he could to stay out of Iraq — it’s not a ‘reality-based’ statement,” Russo blasted back in an essay on his department’s web site. “The idea that the A’s have made a real, exhaustive effort to stay is disingenuous at best. With some imagination and a real partnership among the city, the business community and the ball club, the A’s could build a new ballpark and remain the team of the people of the East Bay.”

An A’s representative did not respond to a request for comment.

***

No comment? Hah.

By eyleenn (38.99.44.122) on Monday, May 10, 2010 - 11:27 am:

Link: http://sanfrancisco.bizjournals.com/sanfrancisco/stories/2009/05/11/tidbits1.html

By oaklandsi (144.91.218.232) on Monday, May 10, 2010 - 11:35 am:

I love it

By raiderjohn (207.47.31.74) on Monday, May 10, 2010 - 12:28 pm:

Dirt Bag.

I'm thinking Bud hasn't release his findings because it is horrible timing, economics, and baseball wise in Oakland. All guns are already directed at Wolff, Bud don't want to add to our pile of ammunition.

By mroakland (76.102.83.101) on Monday, May 10, 2010 - 05:43 pm:

Wolff keeps insulting the intelligence of Oakland A's fans when he claims that he wanted to build a ballpark in Oakland.

I'm counting on Mr. Russo, Senator Boxer, Barbara Lee, and Governor Jerry Brown to teach Wolff, Bud Selig and MLB a lesson if this goes down like I think it will. Selig doesn't know what to do at this point. He's buying time but if he screws Oakland he's going to open up a big can of worms starting with a chronology of what happened in 1999 all the way to Wolff's disingenuous claims that he tried in Oakland. Wolff carries around a dossier of his efforts in Oakland. I would love to go through that treasure trove.

By jmmarx (174.25.21.1) on Monday, May 10, 2010 - 08:34 pm:

I think we might see a fight to the finish between wolfie and the City of Oakland

By diamond_lil (187.15.172.188) on Tuesday, May 11, 2010 - 04:23 am:

Don't count on Brown. He knows from experience and from advice from his own father that it can be political suicide to get involved in sports and host cities...Brown was exposed to ridicule when he tried to back Oakland for the superbowl bid...and Schott and Hofmann gave him a cold shoulder when he made an effort...

Now, depending on circunstances, we can count on Russo, Boxer and Lee.

As for Selig...we should never under estimate this sob (to say the least)...he has it as a mission to take baseball out of Oakland and if possible take baseball out of the A's completely.

By eyleenn (38.99.44.122) on Tuesday, May 11, 2010 - 11:20 am:

http://richliebermanreport.blogspot.com/search/label/A%27s-San%20Jose%20Dreams%20Unlikely--The%20Whole%20Story%20of%20How%20and%20Why%20the%20A%27s%20Remain%20in%20Oakland

I just ran across this post from local sports/media blogger Rich Lieberman. It's from March of 2009, but still pretty accurate.

By mroakland (76.102.83.101) on Tuesday, May 11, 2010 - 07:12 pm:

Lil, I think Jerry Brown has taken a lot of unfair heat regarding the Uptown site which the A's never showed any interest in. If he becomes Governor that will probably be his last run for public office. I wouldn't be surprised if he took on Wolff and Selig if they screw Oakland. At the very least he can defend himself against the claims that the A's were interested in Uptown.

By eyleenn (71.131.25.207) on Tuesday, May 11, 2010 - 08:57 pm:

Kind of a chicken or egg situation re Uptown. The A's weren't interested, and Brown was determined to build housing there.