San Jose Makes Power Play for A’s Baseball Stadium

The city and its perhaps-doomed redevelopment agency have locked up $25 million worth of real estate in the hopes of attracting Major League Baseball to San Jose. Here are two graphics of the proposed ballpark.

A more difficult issue to tackle is the psychic and emotional importance of sports to American culture, and the civic pride that can surround a winning team.
“I guess I can say there is a false civic pride, because it sets you up for blackmail in the future,” Morris says. “An owner can say if you don’t give me more money, a new stadium, I’m going to leave.”

Over time, though, San Jose has become the A’s only true option. Oakland has just begun developing an environmental impact report, a prerequisite completed years ago in San Jose, and, as Redevelopment’s Mavrogenes points out, Wolff “made it clear to everyone that he does not want to build a facility in Oakland.”

Local business leaders here are clearly on board. The Silicon Valley Leadership Group sent a letter signed by 75 local CEOs to Selig late last year, endorsing the team’s relocation to San Jose. Included in that group were Carol Bartz of Yahoo; Shantanu Narayen of Adobe; and John Chambers of Cisco, which has a $120 million deal with the A’s for 30 years of naming rights if a stadium is built.

None of this has softened the Giants’ stance. They’ve ruled out a deal for giving up the territory. The reason is clear: Why allow the A’s to suck Silicon Valley corporate and fan revenue when a waiting game could result in a one-team Bay Area baseball market?

“I understand the Giants are trying to either get the A’s to leave the area, which would be in their interest, or get some money out of the A’s,” Reed says. “But I don’t think it’s right the way they’re holding San Jose hostage.”

Making the situation more pressing is an impending collective bargaining agreement at the end of this season. Growing chatter speculates that the league will contract to 28 teams by eliminating the Tampa Bay Rays and the A’s. As one team executive told the New York Daily News, “How much longer can you expect all the other teams to subsidize two teams, in futile situations, with revenue sharing to keep them afloat?”

Contraction, however, seems unlikely in the face of a wave of lawsuits—from the MLB Players Association and host cities themselves. Even San Jose could sue for the right to bring the A’s to town, although city officials say they have not discussed that option.

One thing is certain: The A’s won’t sue the Giants, nor vice versa, due to the immunity from federal anti-trust laws baseball received a century ago as part of an arcane dispute over players’ rights. MLB rules prevent clubs from litigating because of the fraternity they share as members of the league.

A stumbling block might be the unpaid portion of the $170 million loan the Giants took from Chase Manhattan Bank to build AT&T Park. “I think the only way this is going to work politically is if an agreement is reached,” says admitted local baseball booster Larry Stone. “Although Lew Wolff doesn’t expect to give the Giants anything, my theory is the A’s pay down the loan.”

In the meantime, the mysterious Diridon Development Authority exists in a vacuum, with no known leadership or definitive plans. While unlikely, it’s possible the city could toss in a few more properties for protection from the state. One parcel already included is on San Fernando Street, six blocks away from the proposed ballpark site but seen as a gateway to the ballpark.

Meanwhile, South Bay baseball fans wait, and San Jose remains perched on the cusp of becoming something it has always wanted to be—a major league city.

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