I was just looking at the ballparks of baseball website http://www.ballparksofbaseball.com/future/A'sBallpark.htm
and saw that they were beginning to consider a new A's park in either downtown Oak-town or in Santa Clara near Great America. I know that many consider the A's Portland's greatest opportunity to get a team, but I was just wondrering is there really grounded evidence?
I know they don't get that great of attendence from the bay area, even with their winning streak last year and success. Much of this probably has to do with the Network Associates place, but would this be alleviated if they a)got a new downtown Oakland ballpark or b)moved to the south bay?
The Santa Clara site is much farther from Pac Bell than the current stadium, which makes the territorial restrictions of the Giants a little questionable. Also, there is IMHO a pretty big tie between east and south bay areas, with a lot of commuters living in the east bay and working in the valley, much more so than between SF and San Jose. I really question the territory thing, even though it is just a little farther than Baltimore/DC, although I think the facts are otherwise very different.
Anyways, I hadn't heard much talk down here, but was wondering if the poor ownership and lack of fan support in Oakland will make Portland a viable alternative, especially if the Giant's retain control of the south bay?

P.S. It is interesting to see the financing package that is being proposed in Santa Clara. It is almost all public $$$.

Cubbie,
As an A's fan and longtime resident of Oakland, I'd love to answer this. First of all, the Santa Clara idea was tabled almost immediately after the early 2001 discussions began. This happened, among other things, due to financing reasons and the loud complaints of the Giants who consider all of the South Bay and down the Central Coast their market territory. This includes Santa Clara county and San Jose. Questionable or no, Magowan and crew are unrelenting in this viewpoint.

Secondly, the A's drew 2,169,811 fans last year. That's 8th out of 14 American League teams. Not the best, but surely not the horrific mass exodus that is constantly portrayed in East Coast media (READ: ESPN, NY Post, NY Times, Sports Illustrated). It's middle of the pack. And with a team that is less than 20th in League payroll -- guaranteed that the A's are MAKING MONEY. Especially since they pay next to nothing in rent to Network Associates Colliseum or Oakland/Alameda county. Which brings me to my next point...

The A's signed a contract extension with the Network Associates Colliseum through the 2008 season last December while nobody was watching. So, unless a serious material breach of contract occurs -- there is no way in H-E-double-hockey sticks they'll move to a minor league ballpark with no distinct ownership plans prior to 2008.

Finally, as much as I'd like to have season tickets to my beloved A's again...it is incomprehensible that MLB would move a team from the 3rd largest media market in country. At least farther than fifteen miles from downtown Oakland.

Cubbie,

Just to let you know of another link to future plans for new Oakland A's Stadium sites:

http://www.oaklandfans.com/ballpark/

I think this information is old, but I happened to run across it. Good mock-up photos though...

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"let freedom ring" -Chico's Bail Bonds

Thanks Ryan, those are pretty cool plans. I really haven't heard much over the past couple of years so I'm not sure what direction they are moving in, but with the relative low number of fans each night despite a very competitive team, I can't imagine they aren't considering some change.