Five months ago we looked at two issues regarding the Oakland Athletics: the cycle of build, win, strip, and rebuild that has defined the organization forever and the issue of where the A’s are going to be playing between now and when their new stadium in Las Vegas is ready—allegedly 2028 now. With the MLB owners unanimously approving the team’s move from Oakland to Sin City, the real logistics now begin.

These are two issues we feel very strongly about: first, there is no way the San Francisco Giants are going to “share” their precious House That Steroids Built with the A’s for the next few years—it’s just not going to happen. Second, the less the Oakland Coliseum needs to be shown on TV with less than 5,000 fans in attendance, the better the optics are for MLB as a whole to put this whole debacle behind it for good.

We stand by the idea that it would best for all parties involved for the A’s to play their games from 2024 to 2027 outside of Oakland and the Bay Area. The minor-league park in Las Vegas where the A’s affiliate plays makes the most sense for the majority of the team’s MLB home schedule. The team also could play some games in Reno’s minor-league park, if the A’s can come to an agreement with the Arizona Diamondbacks.

Other ideas have been floated, which we find implausible: Mexico City is not realistic for so many reasons. The early Las Vegas move makes sense as the Aviators—the Athletics’ Triple-A team—could move to Oakland for 2024 (and beyond if successful). The baseball fans in the East Bay probably would turn ou tin droves for a minor-league team, just to prove a point, even though it would still be associated with the A’s.

We discussed this earlier in the calendar year, but the Oakland Raiders played two more seasons in the Coliseum after announcing their Vegas move, and they lost only 7,000 fans a game on average. But this is a false analogy, due to two major factors: the Silver & Black always had a much more loyal and passionate following in the East Bay than the A’s did, and football is a different beast than baseball for home games.

The reality is that the Athletics would have much worse attendance in Oakland for 2024 than they did in 2023: 832,532 paid. The Oakland low of 306,763 in 1979 would be in play, for sure, and MLB—and the A’s organization—can’t risk that kind of financial and public-relations hit as the franchise prepares itself to earn the loyalty of the Las Vegas fans by 2028 when a new ballpark is supposed to be ready. Not happening.