Post by TheShadow on Apr 19, 2006 18:35:36 GMT -5
www.insidebayarea.com
Team in negotiations with Coliseum Authority for contract extension
By Paul T. Rosynsky, STAFF WRITER
OAKLAND — The words of Oakland A's owner Lewis Wolff might point to a future home in Fremont, but his actions could keep the team in Oakland until at least 2013.
Wolff and the team's current landlord, the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum Authority, are in preliminary negotiations for a contract extension at McAfee Coliseum.
While the deal would keep the A's in town until at least 2010, it appears likely that the team will have an option to leave without penalty after that, if it relocated inside Alameda County.
"We have been talking to them. I think in a couple of weeks we will have it finalized," said City Council President Ignacio De La Fuente, who is authority vice chairman. "It's not that complicated of a deal."
Wolff first asked for an extension last year when the Coliseum Authority was renegotiating its lease with the National Football League's Oakland Raiders. At the time, Wolffsaid, he wanted assurances that the team had a place to play while it searched for a spot for a new ballpark.
Although his request was denied, authority leaders promised it would be a top priority once the Raiders deal was signed.
"They want a lease extension, and we want to give it to them," said authority chairperson and Alameda County Supervisor Gail Steele. "They want something like they have now ... just tacked on at the end."
Under their current lease, which was extended in 2002, the A's agreed to stay at the Coliseum through 2007. After that, the team has three one-year options through 2010.
The team agreed to pay $4.7 million during the course of the five-year lease and share half the revenue from ticket sales once attendance tops 2 million in a year.
The lease allows the team to leave with 120 days notice without penalty if it moves to a 40,000-or-more capacity stadium in Alameda County. Should the team leave the area, it would have to pay the remainder of its lease and a $250,000 penalty.
But after 2007, the team could leave at any time.
Under the new deal, the lease would be guaranteed through 2010.
"It is our wish to extend the lease at the Coliseum while we continue to work toward securing a new facility," said team spokesman Jim Young.
De La Fuente said the new deal probably will be similar to the old. It would lock in the current lease, making the three one-year options permanent and then adding three more years.
Still under discussion, De La Fuente said, is whether the additional three years will be option years or guaranteed.
"It all depends on what kind of financial arrangement is made," he said.
De La Fuente also said the extension could give Oakland more time to try to find a location for the team, though it appears the organization is moving closer to a Fremont relocation.
"The fact is, we are doing everything we can to make sure that we have time to really explore every opportunity that we have," he said.