OAKLAND, Calif.—Many fans at the Oakland Coliseum were still hanging out in the parking lot when Alex Wood delivered the first pitch of the season for the Athletics against the Cleveland Guardians.
And they had no intention of going into the nearly 58-year-old stadium.
In protest of the A’s planned move to Las Vegas in 2028, fan groups staged a boycott of the home opener Thursday, purchasing tickets to the game to organize a block party outside the stadium.
Half an hour before the game’s first pitch, hundreds of fans gathered in a corner of the parking lot. They displayed “Sell” T-shirts and flags, threw beanbags at caricatures of team executives—including Owner John Fisher and President Dave Kaval—and danced to live music while munching on dinner from food trucks.
“Everyone’s in such a good mood because we’re all here for the same thing,” said Edward Silva, a student at San Jose State and a lifelong A’s fan. “Everyone knows the score. So, everyone’s on the same page, and just creating a wonderful atmosphere.”
The A’s opened gates to parking lots just two hours before the game to align with what they said was the expected attendance, but fan groups that organized the boycott, including the Oakland 68’s and The Last Dive Bar, said it was an attempt to limit the protest.
Dennis Biles, an organizer with the Oakland 68’s, said at a rally in the parking lot that Thursday was the first A’s home game he had missed in five years. Mr. Biles, a season-ticket holder since 2007, chose to attend college locally so he could still go to A’s games. He noted that other fans probably made similar sacrifices, small or large, to support the club.
“For a long time, I really believed that the A’s were actually dedicated to the community,” Mr. Biles said. “And I really bought into that whole spiel.”
The A’s plan to relocate to Las Vegas in 2028, but where they will play after this season remains uncertain with their lease at the Coliseum expiring. Sacramento, Calif., and Salt Lake City have been floated as options, as had sharing Oracle Park with the San Francisco Giants, a prospect that seems remote at best.
The Oakland 68’s and the Oakland United Coalition called at the rally for the Alameda County Board of Supervisors to back out of an agreement to sell its 50 percent stake in the Coliseum to the A’s. At another booth were organizers of Schools Over Stadiums, a Nevada group attempting to block public funding for the Las Vegas stadium in favor of money for education.
Thursday was the second large action taken by A’s fans during home games after the team announced plans to move to Las Vegas. Last June, fans packed the Coliseum for a reverse boycott urging Mr. Fisher to sell the team.
“I felt like that was for us to know that it was important,” said Hal Gordon, an economist and former hot dog vendor at the Coliseum who became a fan favorite before he left in 2022. “This time, we’re fighting. We’re fighting back. We’re raising money to fight back. We’re urging people not to go in, so they have less money to build their stadium.”
He added: “There’s no playbook when someone says, ‘We’re stealing your team from you.'”
Managers for both teams empathized with the fans.
“I wouldn’t expect anything less from Oakland A’s fans,” Oakland Manager Mark Kotsay said. “When they come out, they come out with support, with love, and they do it full force.”
Mr. Kotsay added that the fans that do show up to the game itself would “have a way to just be loud and create energy.
“Just to put a uniform on and to have this opportunity to be a big-leaguer, to manage a big-league club—I’m honored, regardless if there’s one fan or 60,000 fans,” Mr. Kotsay said.
Oakland remains a special place for Cleveland’s Stephen Vogt, who made his big-league managerial debut against the club for which he played six years.
“My heart goes out to the fans and the people of Oakland, obviously the organization as well,” Mr. Vogt said. “They’re in a tough place right now, and hopefully they’ll get some answers and some clarity soon.”
