Oakland Athletics: Move to San Jose Could Turn Franchise into a True Contender

Currently, the Oakland Athletics are one of the most exciting teams in Major League Baseball.

Since the beginning of June, the A's are an incredible 30-14—despite having the lowest payroll and one of the worst attendance averages in the league.

What's even worse for the Oakland faithful is the current home stadium for the club - O.co Coliseum. 

When the Athletics moved to California the Coliseum was beautiful, complete with gorgeous views of the East Bay's rolling hills and BART subway system. 

Now, after the late Al Davis finally got his 50-yard line luxury boxes for Raiders NFL games, the Coliseum is a giant, atrocious bowl of concrete. 

If the Athletics relocate, they can finally call an actual baseball stadium "home". 

Stadium Location

The proposed stadium is currently an abandoned lot just blocks from the raucous HP Pavilion, home of the San Jose Sharks hockey club. 

Both the proposed stadium and HP Pavilion are conveniently located just miles from three major freeways—connecting fans throughout the entire Bay Area. 

Cisco Field is also a very short walk from the vibrant nightlife in downtown San Jose, adding to the overall fan experience. 

Economic Impact

The City of San Jose has made it very obvious they want the Athletics in the city—most notably through an "economic impact analysis" report that was developed by the brains of the Conventions Sports & Leisure. 

The CSL complied the 25-page report with strong evidence that the City of San Jose would significantly benefit from a Major League franchise: 

• By 2014, the ballpark would produce $130 million in annual economic impact and approximately 1,000 new jobs paying wages of more than $60 million, according to the report.

• Over a 30-year period, the cumulative economic impact would total $2.9 billion and personal wages paid exceeding $1.3 billion.
  
  
• $1.5 million per year in net new tax revenues would be generated for the City’s General Fund. More than $1.9 million for other local agencies for affordable housing and Santa Clara County.
  
  
• Local hotels, restaurants, stores and nightspots will benefit, with the average ballpark attendee anticipated to spend $47 at businesses outside of the Major League Baseball facility.

Current Athletics Organization

The 2012 Oakland Athletics are arguably the most exciting team in Major League Baseball. 

Here's a breakdown of the American League's Western Division standings next to their payroll:

	W	L	GB	Payroll
Texas Rangers	56	38		$120 M
Los Angeles Angels	52	44	5.0	$154 M
Oakland Athletics	51	44	5.5	$49 M
Seattle Mariners	42	55	15.5	$82 M

Despite having the league's lowest payroll, the A's have still managed to string together an incredibly impressive season.

As of Monday, July 23rd, the Athletics are just 5.5 games back from the division-leading Texas Rangers who have the fifth-highest payroll in the league.

Important People Involved

All of the following people are fully invested in bringing the Oakland Athletics franchise to the city of San Jose, California:

Leadership

Co-Chair
Michael P. Mulcahy
Managing Partner, SDS NexGen Partners LP

Co-Chair
Susan Hammer
Former Mayor, City of San Jose

Treasurer
David Roberson
Attorney, Rossi, Hamerslough, Reischl & Chuck

Secretary
Bill Baron
Partner, Brandenburg Properties

Board of Advisors

Carl Guardino
President & CEO
Silicon Valley Leadership Group

Scott Knies
Executive Director
San Jose Downtown Association

Pat Dando
President & CEO
San Jose Silicon Valley Chamber of Commerce

Patricia Ernstrom
Executive Director
San Jose Sports Authority

Sam Chuck
Partner
Rossi, Hamerslough, Reischl & Chuck

John Southwell
GM, SJ Hilton & Towers
Chair, San Jose Hotels Inc

Neil Struthers
CEO
Santa Clara & San Benito Counties Building & Construction Trades Council

Daniel Fenton
President & CEO
Team San Jose/SJ Convention & Visitors Bureau

Partners

Silicon Valley Leadership Group

San Jose Silicon Valley Chamber of Commerce

San Jose Convention & Visitors Bureau

San Jose Sports Authority

San Jose Downtown Association

Rossi, Hamerslough, Reischl & Chuck

JP DiNapoli Company

Hunter Properties

Devcon Construction

McEnery Family

San Jose Hotels Inc.

SDS NexGen Partners

Focus Business Bank

Bottomley Distributing Company

Acuity Ventures

MCM Diversified

Intero Real Estate

All text courtesy of probaseballsanjose.com

Bring Franchise Heritage to San Jose

The Athletics franchise has one of the longest and most iconic histories in Major League Baseball. The club first began in 1901 in Philadelphia and has since moved a to a new city twice in the team's 111-year history. 

In Philly, the Athletics were powered by Hall of Famers like Jimmie Foxx and the "$100,000 infield" at the world famous Shibe Park—also known as "Connie Mack Stadium". 

After winning five World Series titles in Philadelphia, the team relocated to Kansas City in 1955 where they played for just 13 years. 

Following the short stint in the midwest, the Athletics relocated one final time to Oakland, California to play in the once gorgeous Oakland Coliseum.

Since 1968, the Oakland Athletics have boasted Hall of Fame talent in athletes like Reggie Jackson, Dennis Eckersley, Rollie Fingers, Catfish Hunter and Rickey Henderson.  

For the Oakland Athletics, it's time to close the chapter and create a new list of Hall of Famers in the "San Jose era."