Casey Harrison
Exterior of the Oakland-Alimeda Coliseum. Aug. 18, 2023.
Friday, Dec. 15, 2023 | 4:52 p.m.
The Athletics on Thursday told officials in California the ballclub will make good on their obligations to pay the remaining $45 million left outstanding for its share of the Oakland-Alameda Coliseum.
Responding to a letter the A’s were sent last week from Alameda County Board of Supervisors president Nate Miley, counsel representing the team said it would adhere to the terms of the 2019 purchase of the stadium, where the team has played since 1968.
“CWP agrees that the acceleration of the Annual Purchase Price Components was triggered on November 16, 2023, and that any outstanding Annual Purchase Price Components are due and payable by May 14, 2024. We will continue to satisfy our obligations under the Agreement, including the obligations set forth in Section 3.6 (of the deposition agreement),” Coliseum Way Partners LLC chief legal officer D’Lonra Ellis wrote.
Coliseum Way Partners is a subsidy of the A’s.
On Nov. 16, owners from all 30 MLB teams unanimously voted to approve the team’s relocation proposal out of the Bay Area to Southern Nevada, clearing the way for a new stadium to eventually break ground on the Las Vegas Strip. The A’s have played at the Coliseum since relocating there from Kansas City in 1968 and are the first MLB team to relocate since 2004.
The A’s purchased the county’s 50% stake in the Coliseum for $85 million in 2019 and have paid $40 million, according to the San Francisco Chronicle. The agreement states the A’s would need to pay the remaining balance within 180 days of announcing the team would leave Oakland. May 14 will mark 180 days from the Nov. 16 relocation announcement.
The Chronicle reported Thursday the other half of the 155-acre Coliseum property is owned by the City of Oakland, which is negotiating with the African American Sports and Entertainment Group, an organization formed to pursue development of the property.
The A’s were to pay the remainder of its balance in increments of $15 million due in January 2024, February 2025 and January 2026. The team’s lease to play at the Coliseum ends after 2024, and it’s not yet clear where the A’s will play between for the ‘25, ‘26 and ‘27 seasons.
Meanwhile in Las Vegas, team officials postponed a ceremony that was scheduled for Monday in light of the death of two Nevada State Police highway troopers who were assisting a motorist along Interstate 15. The team was expected to share new renderings of the proposed $1.5 billion, 33,000-seat ballpark off the corner of Las Vegas Boulevard and Tropicana Avenue.
A new event for the unveiling of the renderings has not yet been announced.
