Angry baseball fans watch game outside stadium due to 400-mile move | Sports Other

Oakland Athletics plans to play its home games in Las Vegas, Nevada, from 2028. The MLB club is currently still active in Oakland. This Californian city is approximately 660 kilometers as the crow flies from the new location.

Several fan clubs bought tickets for the game against Cleveland Guardians in protest, but decided not to enter the Coliseum. Instead, the supporters threw a party in the parking lot at the stadium.

People could listen to music, buy food and throw items at cardboard cutouts of the club executives, among other things. In the end there were only 13,522 people in the stadium. Last year the opening match attracted 26,805 spectators.

Coach Mark Kotsay understood the supporters’ protest. “I didn’t expect anything different from the fans. When they express their opinion, they always do it with full force and love. In any case, I am proud to be a coach at this club. Whether there is one fan in the stadium or 60,000.”

According to American media, Oakland Athletics has long tried to build a new stadium in the city to replace the dated Coliseum (built in 1966). The nine-time World Series winner is renting the stadium until next year, but no new deal has yet been concluded with the city.

It is still unclear where the ‘A’s’ will play in the next three years. Salt Lake City and Sacramento, among others, are mentioned as bases. It would be the third move since the club’s founding. The formation previously played in Philadelphia (from 1901) and Kansas City (from 1955). Oakland has been its home base since 1968.

Since its arrival in Oakland, the club has become national champions four times (1972, 1973, 1974 and 1989). The team had the worst MLB season in club history last year with only 50 victories compared to 112 defeats.

With the move to Las Vegas, the club hopes to find its way up. The gambling city has invested heavily in various sports in recent years, including the arrival of The Raiders. This American football club played its home games at the Coliseum in Oakland until 2020.