Oakland Athletics announce 10-year extension to remain at Oakland Coliseum

After less than 48 hours of posturing by the city of Oakland, the Oakland Coliseum Authority and the Oakland Athletics have agreed to a 10 year extension to keep the A’s playing baseball at the Coliseum for the next 10 years.

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Yesterday we learned the Oakland City Council was planning to reject a previously agreed upon deal that included a decrease in the annual lease payed by the Athletics as well as certain facility upgrades (which are beyond necessary). Commissioner Bud Selig acted swiftly, wasting little time before on announcing on Thursday that he had given the A’s permission to move the franchise to another city immediately unless a new deal was agreed executed.

Selig made the announcement earlier today and no later than this afternoon there is a new 10-year extension in place. As announced by the team’s official Twitter account:

Selig’s announcement may or may not have been substantive; it very well might have just been the logical move, a way to strong-arm the city of Oakland to quit fussing around and approve the deal. If that’s all his intentions were with that announcement, there is little doubt that he accomplished his goal.

Given the persistent issues with the Oakland Coliseum as a home ballpark, the Athletics have been linked to a possible move to San Jose for a while now. This executed agreement means that such a relocation is not in their future, at least not for a while. The A’s will keep playing their home games in the quirky and sometimes depressing confines of the Coliseum for the next 10 years.