Giants/MLB snuff out A's Attempt at San Jose Move; New Owner ready to keep team in Oakland

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http://richliebermanreport.blogspot.com/2012/03/giantsmlb-snuff-out-as-attempt-at-san.html#comment-form

A report by Bill Madden of the NY Daily News saying MLB will uphold
the SF Giants territorial rights and, thus, effectively thwart the A's
intention to move to San Jose, is no surprise.

As always, it's all about the money.

Think about this: Say you owned a Nordstrom and still had a good chunk
of financial investment left on the mortgage. Your Nordstrom was on
the lower portion of a block and someone wanted to build a Neiman
Marcus on top. Surely, if your the Nordstom, you'd be concerned about
your property. And you were first in line.

The Giants are the Nordstom here and the A's would be the Neiman
Marcus.

From a strictly media standpoint, an A's move to San Jose; in addition
to tapping heavily into the Giants' corporate fan base, (which throws
a lot of money up north to AT&T Park and essentially pays off the
existing debt service), immediately cuts into their cable revenue
rights, (CSNBayArea), and radio too, (KNBR).

That revenue the Giants receive would automatically be cut in half.
And that's just the start. It would also provide the A's with a home
in the heart of Silicon Valley--where a bevy of cash and computer
finance dough would be a stone's throw from Lew Wolff. You think Larry
Baer and those Giants investors would give all that up? I don't think
so--remember, the Giants privately financed their ballpark. They got a
ton of assurances that the Southbay was theirs. I'm sure that's why
its taken so long for Bud Selig's blue-ribbon committee to make a
decision on this issue. There was a reason--it's called the SF Giants.

The A's aren't going anywhere. They might be "stuck" in Oakland, but
there's at least two groups locally that would like to buy the team
and keep them in Oakland. One key investor is Savemart CEO, Bob
Piccinini.

Piccinini and ex-A's marketing whiz, Andy Dolich, were once a part of
a group, (with Reggie Jackson as a key front man), that wanted to buy
the A's and work with Oakland officials about building a waterfront
ballpark in Jack London Square. They were snubbed out by MLB because
baseball thought they didn't have the required finances to operate a
franchise. That theory was quashed by Dolich.

The latest report could set off the possibility of the A's being up
for sale. Lew Wolff badly wants San Jose. But if this latest report
has any girth, (and I believe it does), then all bets are off.

As Dolich told me three years ago, "The A's have been moving for 47
years--I think they'll end up staying in Oakland where they've been
for over four decades."

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