Photo of an Oakland Athletics game at Oakland Coliseum with the tarp covering the upper level in the background.

Image Credit: Dennis Yang (CC BY 2.0)

The Oakland Athletics who have long played in the less than stellar Oakland Coliseum, have decided to remove those unsightly tarps from the upper level of the ballpark. The tarps were used to cover the all too often empty seats of the upper level of the stadium; which is also home to the NFL’s Oakland Raiders. Tickets for all upper level seats will be $15 for the remainder of the 2017 Major League Baseball season.

The tarps covered more than 12,000 seats and will increase the ballpark’s capacity to just over 47,000 and were first introduced in 2006. The Athletics organization have come no where close to consistently drawing above 35,000 spectators thus far this season. Oakland Athletics President Dave Kaval will contribute half of the money generated from the upper level seats to Oakland Promise, an organization that hopes to triple the number of college graduates in the Oakland area by 2027.

The tarps that sit atop of “Mount Davis”, however, will remain in place. Mount Davis are the uppermost seats above the outfield wall and references former Oakland Raiders owner Al Davis. Mount Davis was added to help lure the Raiders to Oakland when they were the Los Angeles Raiders. Many speculate that the decision to donate money to Oakland Promise is the Athletics organization’s attempt to cozy up to Oakland taxpayers for a new ballpark. The Oakland Raiders didn’t get the new stadium they wanted and will flee Oakland for Las Vegas, Nevada in coming years.

The Bay Area, which has already taxed it's residents to death, now must decide what to do with the Oakland Athletics, who are in desperate need of a new ballpark. A plot of land in Jack London Square or a brand new ballpark on the site of Oakland Coliseum seem to be the most likely possibilities for the team aside from a relocating to another city.  

 

Reference:

MercuryNews.com

 

Related Articles