Just how close was Joe Lacob to owning the A’s?
A phone call away, according to John Shea of the San Francisco Chronicle. The longtime Bay Area sportswriter recently authored a book titled “Long Schott,” which profiles former A’s owner Steve Schott. The book addresses a number of topics from over the decades, from Schott’s personal life to his career as the A’s owner to his homebuilding and real estate business.
John Shea discusses 'Long Schott' at 9:35 mark
Shea joined 95.7 The Game’s “The Morning Roast” Friday to discuss the book and Lacob’s offer to buy the A’s from Schott in 2005, which ultimately went to an ownership group led by John Fisher and Lew Wolff.
“In the book, Schott said, ‘I had a verbal agreement with Joe Lacob to buy the team in ‘05 for $180 million,’” Shea told hosts Bonta Hill and Joe Shasky. “Lacob was just waiting for the final phone call, it was that close. Everything was done, he qualified. But (MLB Commissioner Bud) Selig wanted Lew Wolff, his fraternity brother at the University of Wisconsin, and the money guy was John Fisher. Bud’s quoted in the book saying, ‘We thought that was the way to go.’ Joe Lacob details every step of the way in the book how he thought he had it done.”
For now, A’s fans are stuck with a penny-pinching ownership group led by Fisher, who refuses to make long-term commitments to his players until a new stadium situation is figured out. Even if the A’s get their new stadium built at Howard Terminal in West Oakland, there’s no guarantee Fisher will pour resources back into the franchise.
Lacob, meanwhile, reportedly has been chided by his NBA colleagues for spending too much. Imagine that, A’s fans. An owner who cares too much and spends too much money. When’s the last time Oakland was accused of a “checkbook win?”
“Lacob says, ‘I have an outstanding offer still to buy the A’s,’” Shea said. “Which kinda ticks off A’s fans, because they think, ‘Wait a minute, we could have had Lacob, and a ballpark and fans and (Matt) Olson and (Matt) Chapman still on the team,’ and all that stuff. But it hasn’t happened because Major League Baseball denied him and Fisher hasn’t had any interest in telling him as far as we know, but he never talks to the media or fans, so nobody really knows.”
After he got shut down by MLB, Lacob moved on to the NBA, buying a minority stake in the Boston Celtics. The position as a limited partner helped him forge relationships around the league, so he was in a good spearhead an ownership group to buy the Warriors in 2010 for $450 million. Behind Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson and Draymond Green, the Warriors have become basketball’s contemporary dynasty.
“Just a valuable lesson in relationship building,” Shea said. "He basically got the team over Larry Ellison and he says in the book, ‘I really shouldn’t have. Because Larry Ellison has a lot more money.’ So it’s about networking and hobnobbing.”
Nowadays, the A’s are worth $1.18 billion while the Warriors are worth $5.6 billion, second in the league only to the New York Knicks ($5.8 billion).
The A’s are making progress through the Bay Area bureaucratic powers that be, with a plan to develop a waterfront ballpark district at Howard Terminal in West Oakland, near Jack London Square. While A’s president Dave Kaval has made some very public overtures and visits to Las Vegas over the past couple of years, Shea thinks it’s just a ploy to pressure public officials like the Oakland City Council.
Shea said he thinks it’s more likely the owners approve a new franchise in Las Vegas and get their hands on a potential $2.2 billion expansion fee instead of asking Fisher and the A’s to relocate.
“Why would teams approve that?” Shea said. “A team going from the sixth-biggest market to the 40th? With no waterfront, with a roof, it’s 120 degrees right now. There’s many factors. Obviously, it seems like a ploy and a threat and all that stuff. Because this whole parallel path thing is just to get the City Council and Oakland, which has done more for the A’s than any other city council in history – going back to (former mayor) Jerry Brown and all those guys – who didn’t really do anything. These guys are doing a lot.
“If the A’s move to Las Vegas, it’s on them. It’s their fault, because they were never interested in the first place. But I don’t see them going to Las Vegas at all.”
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