The Oakland A’s have
announced a new stadium plan, again.
It’s probably more accurate to say another “idea” or, if you lean toward
the cynical, “pipe dream.”
Whatever your term of
preference, the A’s want to move closer to downtown Oakland (forget Gertrude
Stein’s “There is no there there” putdown of San Francisco’s poor relation)
with the requisite water backdrop. But
we’re not just talking baseball here, no sir.
Why, according to team president Dave Kaval, the project will entail
building “a ballpark bigger than baseball, a gathering place to bring our
community together.” Truly, W.P.
Kinsella couldn’t have said it better.
But that doesn’t mean
Kaval knows what he’s talking about. For
openers, seating capacity for the new stadium is pegged at 35,000. Pardon me to invoke the law of supply and
demand, but the fewer seats available the higher the ticket prices. How will that bring a community together? And how will the A’s finance their new
home? They say it’s going to be private
funding, which would be great, but we’re talking about a team with the
second-worst attendance in MLB and one with a well-earned reputation for doing
things on the cheap since the days of Charlie O. Finley.
Maybe the A’s will sell
shares in the Brooklyn Bridge to raise the necessary revenue. You never know.
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