Phil Matier: A's Agree To 10-Year-Lease Extension To Keep Playing In Oakland
SAN FRANCISCO (KCBS)— The Oakland A's have agreed to a 10-year lease extension to keep them playing ball at the Coliseum.
A's owner Lew Wolff originally said he was ready to take the team elsewhere if the city council didn't go along with the original agreement.
The deal comes after the Oakland City Council voted to modify a lease that the team had a negotiated with the agency that oversees the park. But does this mean we finally have a done deal?
It was a done deal a while ago as far as the economics go. What we have here is a little bit of face saving by the Oakland City Council.
When the A's deal first came to them from the [Oakland-Alameda County] Joint Powers Authority, which oversees the Coliseum and actually administers the deals, they were reluctant. They didn't think that the city and county were getting enough money and that the A's were getting away with some parking money they owed.
Phil Matier: A's Agree To 10-Year Lease Extension To Keep Playing In Oakland
Basically what the Oakland City Council did was pull back on all the money demands and said maybe they could change a couple of the words and there. They wanted to be able to say that they made it better. Lew Wolff got word of that and hit the roof, but once everyone calmed down and actually looked at the changes, everyone realized they weren't that big of a deal. Now after all the shouting, screaming and embarrassment, it looks like the deal is going to pass.
We call it a 10-year lease, but it really only obliges the A's to stay at the facility for two years.
However, it does pave the way in getting the A's involved in building themselves a new ballpark at the Coliseum site, despite Mayor Jean Quan's wishes to have their new home built on the Port of Oakland.
