Tom Epstein: Bad Sports

Two local pro sports franchises are at odds with the communities that host them, and Tom Epstein says they both need to be better sports.

As we enter 2023, I’m hoping that two of the Bay Area’s sports franchises have made New Year’s resolutions. For the Oakland A’s, stop being greedy. For the 49ers, stop trying to buy elected officials.

The A’s billionaire owner John Fisher has sought to bleed Oakland dry with excessive subsidies for a huge real estate development surrounding a new stadium.

To build the stadium near a busy port without mass transit access, the A’s demanded the city make more than half a billion dollars of infrastructure improvements financed by local taxes. Federal and state officials have pledged $320 million more.
If they don’t get what they want, the A’s have threatened to move the club to Las Vegas.

These ultimatums place Oakland politicians in a bind. They desperately want the A’s to stay for economic and community pride reasons. Yet they also recognize that a taxpayer bailout to enrich a stingy, reclusive billionaire would be wildly unpopular.

Fisher and his partners paid $180 million for the A’s in 2005. The franchise is valued at $1.2 billion today despite the owner’s lack of investment in the team. Operating in the 6th largest media market, the current A’s payroll is the lowest in all of baseball.

Across the Bay, the 49ers built a new stadium in Santa Clara that opened in 2014, but have been battling ever since over payments owed to the city. When the city council voted to sue the 49ers, CEO Jed York declared war on city officials.

In 2020, he spent $3 million to oust the city attorney and three councilmembers who supported the lawsuit. He doubled down in 2022, spending $4.5 million in a failed attempt to defeat Mayor Lisa Gilmoor.

That level of spending in a city of 130,000 is obscene. York should be ashamed of using his millions to bully elected officials in a clumsy attempt to make Santa Clara a company town.

So both of our local team owners should resolve to be a good sport and put the community’s interest ahead of their own selfish financial interest. Make 2023 a year of conciliation, not confrontation.

With a perspective, I’m Tom Epstein.

Tom Epstein is a writer and community volunteer who lives in the East Bay.