Baseball is not dead in Oakland, as despite the Athletics’ departure to Las Vegas, the Californian city can still count on a professional team.
In May 2024, the Oakland Ballers will perform with the intention of winning back the crowds that abandoned the old coliseum, USA Today reported Tuesday. This club will play in the Pioneer League, an equivalent of the Frontier League in the western United States.
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The Quebec Capitales and Trois-Rivières Aigles play excellent baseball in their independent league, but the level of play is still far from the majors. The Pioneer League is also a partner of the Manfred Circuit without being affiliated with it.
The Ballers will be the 11th championship franchise to operate in the American Rocky Mountains region. The Oakland team will be the furthest west geographically, ahead of the Hawks in Boise, Idaho.
Interest in this team already seems to be high, as investors have raised $2 million to enable its creation. The Ballers initially plan to play at Laney College, but eventually set their sights on the Oakland Coliseum.
“We will do our best to fill the place every night. Our goal will be to attract more people than the A games. It will be, “Look what you miss when you leave.” It won’t necessarily ease the pain, but it would be nice to have more people than just the A’s showing that the community is good. It will show the inability of the A’s owners to get anything done here,” said Oakland 68’s fan group founder Jorge Leon, who was interviewed by USA Today.
The Athletics are expected to move to Las Vegas in 2028 after receiving unanimous approval from Major League Baseball owners. Their lease with the Oakland Coliseum ends at the end of the next campaign and they are then expected to split their operations across multiple venues.