Major League Baseball franchise the Oakland Athletics revealed Friday that it intends to announce a new ballpark site in Oakland before the end of 2017.
The team’s tweet read: “We are here. We are Oakland. A ballpark site in Oakland will be announced later this year. #RootedinOakland”
The Athletics currently play at Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum (pictured), a stadium it shares with NFL American football franchise the Oakland Raiders.
It opened in 1966 and is the only remaining stadium in the United States that is shared by professional football and baseball teams. The Coliseum has 6,300 club seats, 2,700 of which are available for Athletics games, and a variable seating capacity of 47,170 for baseball, 56,057 for football, and 63,132 for soccer.
The Athletics moved to Oakland in 1968 from Kansas City, with 2017 being the team’s 50th season. The club has won nine World Series championships, the third most of all current Major League Baseball teams.
Last month, the Raiders announced its move to Las Vegas, with team president Mark Davis has said that the team plans to play at the Coliseum in 2017 and 2018. The Raiders’ proposed stadium in Las Vegas will not be open until the 2020 season.
The executive director of the body that oversees the running of the Oakland Coliseum stadium, Scott McKibben, has said the Raiders would unlikely be welcome at the ground in 2019.
“I would say to you with the highest level of confidence, in my opinion and recommendation, and that of my board members – I don’t believe there is any appetite for a third season (in Oakland),” McKibben told USA Today Sports last month.
He added: “It’s actually financially to our benefit if they didn’t exercise the options and play here even in the two years they’ve got.”
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