As Warriors open NBA Finals, Oakland mulls future without them - or any team

OAKLAND - Oakland fans have a well-earned reputation as rabid followers of their pro teams, filling Oracle Arena for 131 consecutive Golden State Warriors games, earning kudos from opponents for their boisterous support of the Athletics in playoff games and making the Raiders' Black Hole perhaps the most intimidating cheering section in sports.

So naturally, all three teams have been looking to leave town.

The Warriors' pursuit of their first NBA championship in 40 years is taking place with the backdrop of power brokers across the bay haggling over the new arena the team intends to build on land it has already secured – in San Francisco.

The Raiders, whose return from Los Angeles in 1995 cost Oakland and Alameda County residents $400-plus million they're still paying, are casting their eyes south again as they seek a new stadium.

And the A's have left the impression they'd rather play anywhere but Oakland, where they're stuck sharing the antiquated O.co Coliseum with the Raiders, the only MLB and NFL teams with such an uneasy arrangement.

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After the A's proposed move to Fremont, 25 miles south, fell through six years ago, they shifted their sights farther south toward San Jose, which sits in an area the San Francisco Giants claim as part of their territorial rights. San Jose has sued Major League Baseball hoping to force a move, but the city faces long odds.

That leaves Oakland, a city of 406,000 that has endured severe crime problems in recent years, battling to retain at least some of the sports franchises that helped shape its identity while in the shadow of glitzier San Francisco.

Even as it prepares to host Game 1 of the NBA Finals on Thursday night at Oracle Arena, the city is left to wonder whether this Warriors run represents its last shot at a major sports championship.

Los Angeles Dodgers shortstop Jimmy Rollins, who grew up in the neighboring town of Alameda rooting for the A's and Warriors (the Raiders were mostly in L.A. at the time), pondered the prospect of the clubs abandoning the East Bay with sadness.

"It would be a sports-bankrupt city, or side of the bay,'' he said. "You know what happens when sports franchises and big businesses leave. Places become very desolate. Somehow, someway, sports has a way of curbing crime. It gives you something to do, something to watch.''

The teams' departure is by no means fait accompli, but the Warriors have a foot out the door – they hope to start playing in San Francisco by 2018 – and the current attempts to keep the Raiders and A's in town with separate facilities have no clear financing, to the point Alameda County Supervisor Nate Miley calls them "a longshot.''

The matter is further muddled by the number of parties involved and their interconnectivity. The Raiders and A's no longer want to share a venue in the Coliseum Complex, which is managed by a joint agency with representatives from the city and county.

A Raiders move would enhance the A's chances of staying in Oakland, although they've made it clear they'd rather pursue the abundant riches in San Jose and the Silicon Valley. The Raiders would have Oakland all to themselves if the A's bolted for the Peninsula, but the Giants stand in the way.

Libby Schaaf, in her first year as Oakland's mayor, acknowledged the complexity of the situation but Sunday told USA TODAY Sports, "I think it's extremely likely we will keep those teams. The Raiders consistently emphasize that Oakland is their first choice, and the A's have this year begun to say publicly that they plan to stay in Oakland.''

With the A's signing a lease extension in October that commits them to the Coliseum through at least the 2018 season, the focus of late has been on the Raiders. Two decades ago, then-Raiders owner Al Davis outmaneuvered East Bay authorities and cut a one-sided deal that has left residents with a tab of $12 million a year through 2026 for construction costs and debt service.

Now Davis' son and heir, Mark Davis, is proposing a $900 million stadium at the Coliseum site, with the city and county filling a $400 million funding gap, which local politicians are likely to find a tough sell to previously burnt taxpayers.

"I'm not opposed to the public sector putting in resources, which could include anything from the land to financing to debt repayment, infrastructure. It could be any of those or a combination,'' said Miley, vice president of the joint Coliseum authority. "The question is, how much are we talking about? If it's $400 million, I just don't think that dog's going to hunt.''

Davis has repeatedly said he'd like to stay in Oakland, but in a recent ESPN interview he also extolled the virtues of a proposed $1.7 billion stadium project in the L.A. suburb of Carson, to be shared with the San Diego Chargers.

"The fact that there are two teams doing this project and the fact that we've got 170 acres right now, it gives us the ability to finance the stadium without relying on ancillary development,'' Davis told the network. "It would have the ingress and egress that I require and, as well, have the parking that would give us the best game-day experience possible."

The city and county authorities have contracted with San Diego financier Floyd Kephart, who has a June 21 deadline for presenting a plan for a housing, retail and office development – the so-called Coliseum City – that would in theory raise enough revenue to help pay for a new Raiders stadium and perhaps leave some for the A's.

The baseball team's flirtation with other cities has turned off some fans, and even while winning two division titles and going to the playoffs three times in the last three seasons, the A's have ranked no better than 23rd in the majors in attendance. It was only during the postseason that the faithful came out en masse, creating an electric atmosphere and at times prompting the club to remove the infamous tarps in the upper deck.

With the San Jose option appearing less and less viable, the A's have become more amenable to staying put for the time being, spending $10 million to put up two new scoreboards and a control room. They're also reconsidering their current location, a requirement of their new lease.

"We are following the terms of our extended lease and are relooking at the Coliseum area in terms of a new or rehabilitated venue," co-owner Lew Wolff told USA TODAY Sports. "Our activities have the full support of Commissioner (Rob) Manfred and his office continues to be very engaged with us."

The Warriors' move to San Francisco had widespread support within the city once they settled on a plot of land just south of the Giants' AT&T Park. That was until recent weeks, when a well-financed group of donors to the University of California-San Francisco, whose new hospital and research center are located close to the proposed arena, voiced loud and vitriolic opposition to the project.

The group, known as the Mission Bay Alliance, would like the land set aside for future expansion even though Mayor Ed Lee and UCSF chancellor Sam Hawgood have publicly supported the arena project, with the latter specifying that traffic concerns be addressed.

Warriors spokesman P.J. Johnston said the club is mindful of that issue and pointed out 18 NBA and/or NHL arenas coexist with hospitals located within a mile of them.

But the sudden opposition has also raised the question of why the Warriors would want to leave such an adoring fan base, which supported them through several lean years before Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson and company helped turn their fortunes around.

Oakland and the East Bay can feel the younger sibling in regard to its more cosmopolitan neighbor across the Bay Bridge. Curry, its favorite son of the moment, only fed that over the weekend when he accepted the Giants' invitation to attend a game, clad in a hat and jacket in a front row seat. "Hurts to see Curry at a Giants game," tweeted A's outfielder Josh Reddick, who frequently attends Warriors games.

Thompson, meanwhile, attended Sunday's A's-Yankees game at the Coliseum, got a rousing ovation when shown on the video board and later visited the A's clubhouse. "Very well received," said A's manager Bob Melvin.

Still, even Reddick realizes the reasons behind the Warriors' move.

"As much as I'd hate to see those guys next door go," says Reddick, "I think it does give them a lot more attention, a lot more national looks.''

So the Splash Brothers will be the first to bolt Oakland - if the Raiders don't beat them to it.

"It's no secret all of the teams in Oakland are looking at their futures, and the Warriors have already made their commitment to move to San Francisco,'' Johnston said. "Not because of Oakland. It has to do with the existing facilities out on (the Coliseum complex). The owners felt very strongly that building their own state-of-the-art facility for the team and for other events was key to their long-term future.''

Other owners of teams in Oakland feel that way as well.

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