City of Oakland to reject Athletics' proposed lease extension

The city of Oakland plans to reject the Oakland Athletics’ proposed lease extension on O.co Coliseum, reports Matthew Artz of the Oakland Tribune. The two sides had been nearing an agreement that would keep the A’s in place through 2024.

Oakland’s city council won’t be signing off on the current deal now, as Artz reports:

"The City Council late Tuesday ordered its four members on the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum Joint Powers Authority to reject the deal at a meeting scheduled for Thursday. Instead the city will release its own proposed lease extension addressing several of the council’s concerns, including reduced rent payments for the A’s, Councilman Larry Reid said."

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The current deal was worked out by the four members of the eight-person committee from Alameda County and released by the Coliseum Authority on Tuesday.

As part of the proposed agreement, the Athletics would see a 20 percent decrease in the rent they pay to Alameda County, as well as important upgrades to the substandard facilities. Oakland’s stadium is often considered one of the worst, if not the worst, in Major League Baseball, and the inability of the team and government officials to improve the situation has loomed for years.

That’s led to occasionally contentious talks between both sides, and as this latest development reflects, progress has been made slowly. The Athletics have worked hard to stay in Oakland long-term, but they badly need to improve their facilities to meet reasonable standards for a major professional sports franchise.

The Athletics have played at O.co Coliseum since 1968.

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City of Oakland to reject Athletics’ proposed lease extension

By Satchel Price | Jul 2, 2014