Oakland Roots Are About to Out-Draw the Athletics
There are plenty of people on the internet that question how much sports fans in Oakland loved their sports teams since the Raiders, Warriors, and now Athletics have all left town. Yet, later on today, the Oakland Roots, a United Soccer League team, is about to out-draw the A's in a couple of different ways.
With the A's set to play the next three to four seasons in Sacramento while owner John Fisher hides from "Sell the team!" chants, the Roots will be moving into the now-vacant Oakland Coliseum. Today will be their home opener, and tickets have been flying off the shelves.
The club had originally set capacity at 15,000 seats, but due to the high demand, they upped that to 24,500, and once more to 26,000. At last check, they had just 500 tickets remaining. Capacity for the San Jose Earthquakes home at PayPal Park, also owned by Fisher, is 18,000, and they're an MLS team.
With the A's set to play in a minor-league ballpark this season, their capacity will be capped at around 14,000 all year, so the Roots have already out-sold the A's by nearly double. This is a testament to the level of passion that fans in The Town have when they're treated with respect and loyalty, and not simply for how much money they can pay to a billionaire owner.
Keep in mind, after the A's latest sell-off when they traded away Matt Chapman, Matt Olson, Chris Bassitt, and Sean Manaea in the span of weeks, the team decided to up the prices for season tickets despite throwing together a 100+ loss team.
The other way the Roots will have the A's beat is in pure attendance at the Coliseum for the opener. Last year, the A's announced a crowd of 13,522 for Opening Day against the Cleveland Guardians, with another few thousand sitting outside in the parking lot boycotting the game.
This of course was the first (and only) Opening Day crowd since the A's announced their intentions to leave Oakland for Las Vegas. The previous season the A's drew 26,805 to watch Kyle Muller take on Mike Trout and the Los Angeles Angels.
The Roots are 0-2 to start the season, but with a huge home crowd ready to welcome the team, the season is about to begin for real. They'll be taking on San Antonio FC on Saturday, and following that up with a very intriguing matchup next weekend.
Their opponent on March 29 will be Las Vegas Lights FC, who are not likely to receive a warm welcome from the Oakland fans, regardless of the sport they're playing.
It will also be interesting to see what kind of a crowd that game draws after the home opener needed extra seats to accommodate the fans.
The fans in Oakland are showing that they still love their sports teams, regardless of the sport, while also getting another opportunity to take in an event at the Coliseum, where so many family memories reside.
Jason has been covering the A’s at various sites for over a decade, and was the original host of the Locked on A’s podcast. He also covers the Stanford Cardinal as they attempt to rebuild numerous programs to prominence.