Are The Oakland A’s Really Broke?

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The Oakland A’s don’t have any money. At least, that’s what the team wants us to think. They have no cash for players or upgrades to the Oakland Coliseum. And yet, the team seemingly keeps coming up with funds for various other things.
The most recent news had John Fisher willing to forfeit tens of millions of dollars next year in regional television money from NBC Bay Area in order for the A’s to play in Sacramento, a city that doesn’t want them. How could Oakland afford such a move if they are broke?
Let’s also not forget that it was reported that the A’s and the Oakland city government $36M apart on the Howard Terminal infrastructure that would have gotten the project off the ground. In other words, the money the ballclub is potentially forfeiting in TV rights next year could have kept the team in Oakland with a new stadium already under construction.
What?
Of course, this isn’t the only dough Fisher and friends have seemingly found under their couch cushions in recent times. In December last year, they paid Alameda County $45 million as part of a deal that gave the team control over half the Oakland Coliseum. Great deal, Alameda County. Way to totally not screw everyone.
By the way, that $45 million is nearly double the amount the A’s have committed to player salaries in 2024. All this does is highlight the fact the team does, in fact, have money; it just doesn’t want to spend it on things like making the ballclub more competitive or building a stadium in Oakland.
And really, why would you want to build a stadium in Oakland where people will hold you to account when you could just go down to Las Vegas and hand over menial amounts of petty cash to politicians and local officials who will give you a massive blank check to build a mythical facility that has zero renders and no plan for funding.
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