If a tree falls in a forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound? The same logic could be applied to the Oakland A’s, who have seen their attendance totals shrink to embarrassing new lows this season. Monday night’s series opener against Tampa Bay was seen by just 2,448 fans, Oakland’s smallest home crowd in almost 42 years.
A Monday night game against the Rays, a team plagued by similar attendance issues, was never going to do gangbusters at the box office. But a major-league club drawing this little interest, barely a month into the season, is concerning to say the least and doesn’t bode well for their future in Oakland, as rumblings of the A’s potential relocation to Vegas grow louder with each passing day. The A’s have averaged 8,422 fans for the season, less than a quarter of the stadium’s capacity (35,067). No other team is averaging fewer than 12,000 a game (the Pirates are second-lowest at 12,256).
The team’s slow start—Monday’s defeat extended their losing streak to four games—hasn’t helped matters, though it’s hardly the only reason the Coliseum has been a ghost town of late. The A’s face local competition from the Giants (owners of MLB’s best record last season) across the Bay, while fan favorites Matt Olson, Matt Chapman, Sean Manaea and Chris Bassitt were traded this offseason in an effort to shed payroll. Those factors combined with one of the league’s worst facilities and ownership’s continued flirtation with other cities have reduced the A’s to afterthought status, struggling to remain relevant in a doomed sports town that’s already lost teams to Vegas (Raiders) and San Francisco (Warriors).
Billy Beane’s “Moneyball” approach to maximizing resources has been successful in the past, suggesting the A’s, coming off a respectable 86-win season in 2021, will break out of their funk at some point. But even if the team’s on-field play improves, there’s no guarantee it will put fans back in the seats.
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