Can someone explain why MLB isn't trying to make more of a push to keep the A's in the Bay Area? They really don't seem like they'd mind at all if they packed their shit and headed to Las Vegas. Usually leagues seem to be a lot more protective of their existing markets, and the Bay is a big one.
It's pretty simple. Every commissioner is going to say/do the thing that keeps the "free stadium gravy train" running the most. "Franchise Free Agency" with cities offering stadiums instead of contracts is "Good for the league."
Which is smart for all the commissioners to do. Just not with Oakland because (see below)
I wonder if MLB has started to think of the Bay Area as a one team market. With the Raiders gone baseball is the only major league left with 2. Granted how it's divided (i e Giants have San Jose) the whole area is not a true 2 team market
Plus with Vegas being small yet every other league is either there or had ambitions to do so, it's a way to get in without dividing the pie with expansion but still keep their foot in the Bay Area
MLB would be VERY STUPID to believe that the Bay Area is a one-team market. When you look at CSA's, the Bay Area is 5th with 9.5 million people, and that doesn't count Sacramento, which is right there, like 60 miles away; or Fresno, which is in the TV market.
The Bay Area is huge by population, and the Bay Area is also CONNECTED in a way other markets aren't. Unlike the Phoenix metro area -- where they talk about going to other areas like it's going to Disneyworld, the Bay Area people don't think twice about going to sporting events.
I had coworkers who had season tickets to the Giants, Warriors or Sacramento Kings, while living 1-2 hours from them. One of them didn't even have a driver's license! I don't know if it's BART that makes them like that, compared to the very limited PHX light rail. But BART is great and expanding to make a total loop around the bay from SF-OAK-SJ. And extends east to the I-5 corridor so going from Sacramento to San Jose is not hard at all.
But the big reason that you NEED to A's to stay... is because it's going to be impossible to put a second team back there. The rules are different now (and that's what led to the San Jose typo). The NATIONAL LEAGUE had to approve Oakland moving there from Kansas City. It took 9 of 12 votes, not a one-team veto like the NHL in Southern Ontario.
The area has plenty of people to support two teams, but the two teams need to be in two of the three cities that are among the biggest four, AND connected to the others (which eliminates Sacramento).
THIS is perfect for everyone:
SF - MLB/NBA
OAK - NFL/MLB
SJ - NFL/NHL/MLS
SAC - NBA/MLS
But the Raiders screwed it up and MLB might screw it up too.