A's Refuse to Remove Tarp For Playoffs

[fearofpopvol1]

Interesting story here. What do you think?

http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/articl...?cmpid=twitter

A's management said Friday that it does not plan to sell 20,878 of O.co Coliseum's 55,945 seats next week for the A's division showdown with the Detroit Tigers. Those seats account for about 37 percent of the Coliseum's baseball seating capacity, and A's management has sealed them off with tarps since 2006 due to low attendance.

But now the Oakland A's are drawing sellout crowds. So many fans showed up for the last game of the season on Wednesday that A's management warned people to stay away because there were no tickets left.

The A's rationale is that most games are far from sellouts, so they want fans to gather in the lower decks rather than scatter throughout the stadium.

"Here's a team that says they need to leave Oakland because there's no support. Yet here you have thousands of people who are begging to put money in the A's pockets, and they tell fans, 'Sorry, you have to watch it on TV,' " said Doug Boxer, a former Oakland planning commissioner and organizer of an A's fan group called Let's Go Oakland. "It doesn't make any sense." So far this year, the A's have sold out only seven of 79 games in the 35,067 seats in the non-tarp area.

Longtime sports marketer Paul Siri of Redwood City, a former executive with IMG, said he'd never seen an owner say "no" to the chance to sell more tickets, hot dogs, beer, T-shirts and other merchandise at a high-profile game that's sure to sell out.

The move makes sense only if Wolff is trying to convince Major League Baseball he can't build a successful team in Oakland, Siri said.

"Looking at this from his point of view, this is the worst thing that could happen," Siri said. "His team wins, media exposure increases, the stadium sells out, and suddenly he loses his leverage to move. It kills his argument. ... I don't blame the fans for being upset."

[WMR]

The Owner clearly isn't interested in doing everything he can to make it work in Oakland.

[Wonderful Monds]

I think MLB needs to step in here and tell them to knock it off

[Reds Fanatic]

The A's want to move to San Jose. Sounds like the owner doesn't want to do anything to give anyone second thoughts.

[westofyou]

keep em closed, it's a middle finger to baseball more than the fans that might show up, they don't show up usually why expect em to if you go to the trouble.

the part that is covered is a horrible baseball seat anyway

[D-Man]

Originally Posted by westofyou

keep em closed, it's a middle finger to baseball more than the fans that might show up, they don't show up usually why expect em to if you go to the trouble.

the part that is covered is a horrible baseball seat anyway

Seagulls congregate in that section of the park right?

I figure most fans would rather watch the game in HD than view the game through binoculars, while getting pinged with seagull dung.

[The Operator]

I didn't realize Rachael Phelps had bought the A's.

[westofyou]

Originally Posted by D-Man

Seagulls congregate in that section of the park right?

I figure most fans would rather watch the game in HD than view the game through binoculars, while getting pinged with seagull dung.

Exactly, it's also cold as heck up there too, the stands that are covered were built for the Raiders, and have pretty much been covered for baseball all the time

[harangatang]

Wrong thread.

[traderumor]

Memories of the last Marlins WS victory. All of a sudden, it was like maggots on a piece of rotten meat, fans being spontaneously generated.

[fearofpopvol1]

Originally Posted by westofyou

keep em closed, it's a middle finger to baseball more than the fans that might show up, they don't show up usually why expect em to if you go to the trouble.

the part that is covered is a horrible baseball seat anyway

the same could be said for reds games too. ever watch a home game on tv in september? even when the reds are doing well? ghost town.

[westofyou]

Originally Posted by fearofpopvol1

the same could be said for reds games too. ever watch a home game on tv in september? even when the reds are doing well? ghost town.

Reds stands are much closer, the of stands at the Coliseum are designed as football seats, the GAB is a baseball park