A's Attendance

Me at a game last fall.

There's this article today in the SF Chronicle:

Oakland's team isn't getting an A in attendance

The A's had an attendance of 8,874 last night. Last year they had the lowest attendance and worst radio ratings in the Major Leagues. On April 16, their Triple-A affiliate outdrew them.

It's seems odd to me that the team finds this odd.

They've been leaving Oakland since 2006, when they announced their plan to move to Fremont. Sure that deal fell through, but when the city of Oakland asked the Major League Baseball committee that's reviewing the A's fate to consider staying in Oakland, the team issued a press release saying "We have fully exhausted our time and resources" and "have no interest in covering old ground again."

So you've essentially said that you're going to leave, no matter what. So why exactly should fans come out and support you? Cities do not suffer leaving teams.

Remember the Houston Oilers? They announced they were leaving 3 years before their new stadium in Nashville was to be finished. They played one more season in Houston in front of crowds so small and silent you could supposedly hear conversations on the field from the grandstand. So they bought out their lease and moved to Memphis, where they played in front of the smallest crowds the NFL had seen since the 1950's, except their last game of the season. That game was packed with 50,000 Steelers fans. (Link)

The Washington Senators had to forfeit their final game in Washington because fans stormed the field and all the security guards had left. (Link)

As soon as you announce you're leaving, you cease to be the "home" team. Fans aren't going to stay loyal to a team that's not loyal to them.