A's Agree to Pay Remainder of Bill on Coliseum Site

Oakland A's owner John Fisher is set to purchase the remainder of his half of the Coliseum site

When Oakland A's owner John Fisher agreed to purchase half of the Coliseum site from Alameda County, there was a provision in there that if the team announced that they were leaving Oakland, then the remainder of the bill would come due in 180 days. After MLB's owners unanimously approved the A's relocation to Las Vegas last month, the County decided it was time to actually ask for their money. 

They did that last week. 

Late Thursday night, the San Francisco Chronicle reported that the A's have agreed that they owe the remaining $45 million of the $85 million purchase, stating that they will "continue to satisfy our obligations."

This isn't a total shock. As we reported two days ago, the day that the County asked for their money, Fisher also made a large sale of GAP stock which netted him $32 million. While that won't cover the entirety of the $45 million owed to the County, the timing sure does line up that this money is likely to be used to pay the County. This withdrawal is also the biggest one he's made since 2009, which is as far back as the data goes. The last sale of stock before this one came in 2021 which netted him nearly $3.5 million. This one is different.

The big question now is what John Fisher plans to do with his half of the Coliseum site. There's not much of a chance that he is going to fulfill the purchase and then just hand it over to the City of Oakland as a farewell gift. It also doesn't seem likely that he'll put much effort into developing the site.

What he could do is put pressure on the city to grant him a lease extension in exchange for the land, which would open it up to redevelopment without Fisher's approval and be a good thing for the city. If the A's play in the Bay Area from 2025-27, they will continue to receive RSN payments in the $65-70 million range per season. 

With the bill for Fisher's half of the site not due until the middle of May, this $32 million withdrawal could be in an attempt to show good faith by paying off the debt early and potentially getting that lease extension in the process. MLB's preliminary schedule for the 2025 season is supposed to get passed around in January, and the A's will need to have a ballpark solution in place before that happens. Hence the sale of stock months before the bill is due. This is all just a theory, but it makes the most sense. 

Tensions have been high between Oakland, the A's, and MLB this year, and this could be Fisher's way of getting what he wants ($180-210 million in RSN money) without having to give away something he doesn't want to part with. It would also keep MLB from having to grant an expansion team to Oakland or force the team name to stay in the Bay Area, which is what Oakland leaders have been gunning for. Redeveloped land that could help the city would be tough to pass up. Getting rid of Fisher altogether would be the cherry on top.